


Alive

by callionope



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M, Gen, Marineford Arc, Original Character(s), Post-Marineford
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:28:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 22,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23340235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callionope/pseuds/callionope
Summary: She's strong. She's independent. She falls. She breaks. She rises. She fights. She lived for so long, now she wants to live for someone else."I will not let you or Ace die, Luffy-san."
Relationships: Portgas D. Ace/Original Character(s), Portgas D. Ace/Original Female Character(s), Trafalgar D. Water Law/Original Character(s), Trafalgar D. Water Law/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 60





	1. The Human Auction House

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I posted in fanfiction.net. I want to share this story as well here. I hope you will give this story a chance. May you have a good day everyone!

Stellar had never once doubted her instincts.

She knew she would meet him here. The Human Auction House was a bustling hive of activity, people swarming to get a good seat. She watched it all with wide and alert eyes that glittered from underneath a heavy hood, searching for the person she needed. Her gaze flickered from person to person, from face to face.

He wasn't there.

She sighed in disappointment, _'He must be trying to sell himself again,'_ she thought, "Seriously…" she mumbled.

That was it then; the only way she'd be able to talk to him now was if she waited for him to show up and be bought by one of the greedy rich people who seemed to be overcrowding the hot and cramped Auction House. He shouldn't need her help if he was bought, not if he was anything like she'd been led to believe. He could handle himself.

She sighed, irritably, debating whether or not she should come back later when the man had been dragged on stage or just to watch the whole sickening display. She had never liked this side of the upper class and, if she had it her way, she would have all shows like these destroyed. Selling humans as though they were cattle... it was disgusting.

She shuffled in the chair she was sat in, sinking low into it. She sat at the back of the room in the dead centre where she could see everything. She decided to stay put- if there was any chance of her meeting this man, it would be if she stayed.

Waiting for it all to start she allowed her eyes to wander the crowd, a wary look on her face before something, no, someone caught her eye.

Sitting a few seats from her right with his legs kicked up and a spotted hat pulled low over his grey eyes sat the Heart Pirate's Captain, Trafalgar Law. His eyes flicked over to her and fixed her with a piercing stare, like she were an interesting specimen under a microscope. Instinctively, she huddled back behind her hood as though it could protect her from him. She'd heard the stories, the terrible things this Devil Fruit user had done. The tales of men being cut into pieces like trees being felled and the states they found the corpses of the Captain's little 'experiments' when they washed up on shore.

He must've seen the shaken expression on her face because his lips twitched like he was trying to smile, but it got lost somewhere on his tanned face. She shifted slightly away in what she hoped was a subtle fashion, but when she heard a quiet snort of amusement, she knew she had failed.

The lights dimmed suddenly, and a hush settled on the audience as the curtains opened on the stage below and the show began. Stellar tried desperately to pay attention to the auction below, looking for her man but she could feel the heavy weight of eyes on her. She ignored it until it became unbearably uncomfortable and she finally turned her head but all she saw was an empty seat, the gunmetal grey eyes and sinister smirk vanishing into the hordes of bidding people around her.

"I tell you no lies, ladies and gentlemen! There are no slaves finer than the ones I bring before you today!"

The Slavemaster's yelling caught her attention and she looked back at the stage, pushing the eerie aura Trafalgar Law had left behind him to the back of her mind. She bit her lip, for now she had more important things to focus on.

She watched as the row of men and women stood on stage, some shaking in terror whilst others held a broken sort of look in their eyes. She scrutinized the faces but none of them were the old man's. Maybe he'd be out with the next group? As the Slavemaster continued rambling on she watched the crowd again, looking in disgust at the hungry snobbish people who were crying out for a bid. They were truly the lowest scum she'd ever had the misfortune of seeing.

"Poor Keimi-chwaaaan!~ I hope she is okay! She must be so lonely and scared without my love!"

Stellar almost jumped out of her seat as a cry exploded next to her ear and she hurriedly spun in her seat, panicked by the shock. She spotted a blonde man in a suit doing some sort of a deranged dance with hearts in his eyes. He hopped to attention, clasping his hands at the side of his face, "I would save her and she would say, 'Oh, Sanji-kun is so brave!' and I'd say, 'Anything for my precious Keimi-chan!'. Then she would confess her undying love for me and then we'd-"

"Sanji, shut up!" Screeched the pretty redhead beside him as she walloped him over the head with her hand.

"Haiiiiiii Nami-swaaaaan!" The blonde cried, eyes still pink fluttery hearts before suddenly being replaced by a scowl, "Why did you send the useless Marimo, my sweet? The shitty bastard can't do anything right."

"Sanji, I need you to protect me and Chopper in case something goes wrong. I already said this, weren't you listening?"

The blonde man staggered and for a moment Stellar had thought the redhead and punched him, but then she saw the love sick look on his face and he crowed, "Nami-swan is so smart!~ "

"Yeah yeah, look, let's just find a seat and wait for Luffy and the others, okay?"

"Hai, Nami-swan!~" The strange man noodle-danced away on a quest to find seats and Stellar watched him go, trying to process it all. First Trafalgar Law shows up, then the Mugiwaras? Stellar's instincts is screaming trouble.


	2. A friend in need

Stellar had been going to the Takoyaki restaurant for as long as she could remember. It was owned by three- a merman, a mermaid and a talking starfish. After time, they had become some of her closest friends and the restaurant more of a second home. She had everything she wanted there, friends, food and warm conversation with those she cared about. There was no pressure, no marines, no pain. Just good company with good friends. She had never really seen Hachi or Pappug outside of the restaurant or far from it that often, so when she saw the merman and little orange starfish walk up to the three Strawhats she was stunned.

Both Hachi and Pappug were fighting back tears, "Have you found her yet?" Hachi sniffled, wiping his eyes with an arm- the others packed into a coat in a makeshift disguise- as he settled into a chair next to a tiny furry dog with horns and a hat. The little dog shook his head, looking sad too,

"Not yet. They'll probably bring her out soon. Don't worry, we sent Luffy, Zoro, Usopp and Robin after them though. We'll get her back."

"Yosh," The blonde man, Sanji, replied and leaned forward in his seat to look at the merman, "I don't know why they sent the Marimo though..."

Stellar could hear their conversation being only three seats away from the redhead Nami. She watched out of the corner of her eye with more interest than before. She frowned inwardly as Hachi put his face in his hands and sighed deeply. The dog with the top hat patted his shoulder soothingly, Sanji stared at the stage thoughtfully and Nami watched the merman and the starfish with sympathy on her pretty face.

Stellar fondled the hood of her cloak with nervous fingers. She felt like she owed it to Hachi and Pappug as a friend to go and ask what was wrong, to comfort them, but the idea of speaking to pirates put her on edge. She bit her lip and turned her head to get a better look at Hachi and Pappug, both of them looked as if they were about to break down at any second. She felt awful for not being brave enough to speak and walk over but she knew she could talk to Hachi later at the restaurant about it. She made to turn her head back when the blonde haired Strawhat locked eyes with her.

He stared in a way that made her cheeks go hot and she knew she was blushing. She immediately looked down at the floor and hid a little deeper into her hood, squeaking in surprise when she felt her hands being snatched up into the air and she snapped her head up, hood slipping off and long white locks spilled around her neck as the material fell on her shoulders.

"Madame, would you honor me with telling me your name?" The rich baritone voice asked smoothly, and she flushed as the pirate, Sanji, planted a soft kiss on one of the hands he held.

"I-I-" She stuttered, stumbling over a jumble of words that wouldn't come out. A bright blue eye watched her intensely, "S-Stellar..." She choked out and cringed inwardly after she realized she gave her name to a total stranger. She wants to slap herself for being careless!

The blue eye suddenly popped into a bright pink love heart, "Oh, Stellar-chwan! What a beautiful name for a beautiful lady!"

Stellar felt herself go bright red as some people in the crowd of bidders turned to look curiously at the strange display. She tried to pull her hands away, but Sanji didn't seem to want to let them go, "What is such a beautiful woman like Stellar-chwaaan doing in a place like this?~" This is too much for her!

"I'm looking for-for someone..." She whispered, not able to find her voice as the embarrassing scene played out. She felt absolutely mortified. Sanji didn't seem to hear her response though.

"Do you want me to protect you, Stellar my love?"

She tugged her hands again, unable to get Sanji to let go, "That won't be necessary-"

"Think nothing of it! I will protect you with all my hear-"

"Sanji-kun! What are you doing?"

Stellar dragged her eyes off the love-sick man to see Nami, the pretty redhead, peering over Sanji's shoulder. Delicate hands sat on wonderfully defined hips and an innocent look graced her features. Sanji seemed to stop in his tracks, "Nothing Nami-swan! I'm just helping dear Stel-"

"Sanji-kun, what did I say about causing a scene and attracting attention?" She cut him off.

"To not make a fuss at all, but-"

"Do you see how many people are looking now?" She smiled. Sanji's loveheart eye vanished as he looked at the small cluster of people staring. He swallowed, letting go of Stellar's hands and Stellar held them close to herself.

"Hah, well..."

"STOP BEING SUCH A MORON AND STOP ATTRACTING ATTENTION YOU IDIOT!" She screamed and Stellar winced, watching as the young pirate brought her leg down on Sanji's head with painful force. Sanji fell on the floor at her feet, his face flat on the floor,

"Nami-swan is so beautiful when she's angry..." He groaned, lying there with a large lump swelling on the back of his head. Nami huffed at a job well done.

"Moron..." She muttered then turned her eyes on Stellar, "Who're you?" She asked, not impolitely but still fairly blunt to be considered friendly. Stellar opened her mouth to speak when a sudden cry of, "Stellar!" had her gathered up in the arms of Hachi the merman. Pappug clung to her neck tightly.

"Oh, Stellar, it's awful! I-I tried so hard to protect her and I couldn't! I'm a terrible person!" Hachi wailed and Stellar snaked an arm free to pat his back soothingly. She felt a damp patch forming on her neck from Pappug's tears.

"What happened?" she asked softly.

"It's Keimi! It's all my fault!"

"What?! Keimi?! Where is she? Is she alright?!" Stellar pressed and Hachi shook his head and loosened his grip so that he could look her in the face.

"I don't know," he said sadly, "I tried to protect her, Stellar. But they got her. They captured her and now they are going to sell her off as a- a slave!"

He began sobbing fresh tears at the last part and Pappug only cried even louder than before.

"Woah, woah, woah. Wait. You know this girl?" Nami asked, peeping over Hachi's broad shoulder. The merman dried his eyes again and made a funny hiccough noise.

"How stupid of me. Stellar, this is Nami," He stepped away and swept his other hand to point at the woman, "She's the navigator for Strawhat Luffy's crew. Nami, this is Stellar. She's a customer and a good friend of ours."

"Oh," The look of confusion vanished from Nami's face and was replaced with a smile, "Nice to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too." Stellar replied politely and Hachi pointed to the blonde man who was slowly getting to his feet, gripping his head in pain.

"This is Sanji, but you've already met," He pointed to the little dog with horns, "And this little guy is Chopper."

The dog smiled bashfully and waved. Stellar flashed him a smile, "Aw, he's cute."

"I'm not cute! Your compliment doesn't make me happy you asshole!" The dog cried, jigging from foot to foot with a deep blush. Nami rolled her eyes and looked at Stellar.

"He can't take compliments," She explained as Chopper hopped from foot to foot crowing 'Asshole' with each jump, "So, you know Keimi huh?"

Stellar blinked, "Yes... Yes, I do."

The redhead crossed her arms, "You wanna help us then?"

"Help?"

Pappug, let go of her neck and jumped up and down on her shoulder excitedly, "We're gonna get Keimi back, Stellar!" He whispered hurriedly, "The Strawhats are helping us too! Say you'll help Stellar! Say you will!"

Stellar giggled at the small starfish. "Of course, she's my friend too," She said and Pappug whooped happily and hugged her neck again.

"So, how are we going to get her back?" Stellar asked curiously. Nami smirked and plucked a thick roll of Belis from her pocket,

"We bid for her of course."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It will be a pleasure if you comment on this story. I want to hear your thoughts.
> 
> Thank you for reading this. Have a good day!


	3. Celestial Dragon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for those who read this story! I really appreciate it! I will upload every after 3 or 4 days! Stay tune!

Trafalgar Law was never usually interested. Well he was interested in the normal things; money, fighting and the welfare of his crew but not people. Trafalgar didn't do people. He didn't like people. He liked his crew of course, but they were just a bunch of mismatched guys and a polar bear that he just so happened to get along with. People got too attached to things easily and they were mundane and boring. The body however was a different story.

As a surgeon, Law found the human anatomy fascinating. He knew everything about it. He could name every bone in the body, diagnose any known illness and cure it. He found it truly amazing from the complexity of the nervous system to something as simple as the skin and when he was the one cutting the person open... well, he just had to have a little play around now didn't he? He'd never experiment on his crew but Marines and dear enemies of his? Oh yes, he liked to play with them. He knew well that people thought of him as a sick, twisted freak but they didn't understand that his experiments were purely all in the name of science. Textbooks only gave the basics and Trafalgar had always preferred first hand experience when it came to these things.

He smiled to himself as he sat down, an arm resting on each chair either side of him and his right leg cocked up to cross over his left. He watched from his lookout to the other side of the room, cold grey eyes locked on his objective- a young woman. She was the one who'd shuddered when he had sat next to her, making it well known she clearly didn't like his presence and had obviously heard the stories about him. At first he had deliberately locked eyes with her, trying to intimidate. He liked it when people were scared of him, so what? But her eyes had caught his attention. They were large and milky white with whisps of tinted pinks and purples like the pearls he had seen strung around all the women's necks when he'd first entered the Auction House. He knew, as a doctor, that there was no pigment from any chromosome that existed that could ever make an eye colour like that but that didn't matter, she could be wearing some sort of lense over her eyes for all he knew. It was the pupils or, rather, the lack of pupils that had him intrigued. Surely, even if she was wearing a lense, you would be able to see the black little dot? Especially with an eye colour that pale...

He cocked an eyebrow and continued to study her with a long, calculating gaze. She was talking to the Strawhats now but he couldn't hear their words. _'A crewmate?'_ He thought, puzzling, but then he saw the way she seemed scared of the blonde man, 'No,' he decided, 'She can't be.' He watched as her odd coloured eyes locked onto the bidding stage as though she were searching. Trafalgar took off his hat and ran tanned, tattooed fingers through the choppy locks of dark hair with his eyes narrowed. Why was he so damn interested in her? He put the spotted fabric back on his head.

"What are you?" He murmured.

* * *

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I NOW BRING TO YOU TODAY'S SPECIAL! IT'S THE ONE YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR, ALL THE WAY FROM FISHMAN ISLAND, THE LOVELY, THE WONDERFUL, THE MYSTICAL MERMAID KEIMI!" The Slavemaster roared and with a sweep of his arm, the cloth covering the container was whipped away to reveal a tank filled with water and a terrified looking Keimi trapped in it.

Immediately the crowd was in uproar, cheering, whistling and screaming their bids like a pack of wild animals. Sitting in their seats, Stellar felt ill; Sanji bit his cigarette in half; Nami paled; Chopper, Hachi and Pappug looked like they were about to cry; and Franky, who had joined them a few minutes ago, set down his bottle of Cola with a disgusted look on his face. The crowd was so loud now that Stellar had to shout to be heard by the others, "I am sorry for asking but how much Beli do we have, Nami-san?"

Nami called back to her in an equally loud voice, "Two hundred million. It's all we have!"

"Two hundred million?!" She was shocked at the amount.

The Slavemaster called out above the crowds, "That's seventy million I hear..."

Nami leapt to her feet, "One hundred million!"

There was a collective groan from the crowd, and they fell into whispers, debating over whether or not to bid any higher. Everyone then fell silent. The Slavemaster smiled wickedly, "One hundred million the lovely little redhead over-"

"One hundred and thirty million!" Somebody yelled and Nami quickly countered it with a cry.

"Two hundred million Beli!" She waved the wad of money over her head temptingly and Stellar could almost see the Beli signs in the Slavemaster's greedy eyes. There were no more bids that followed Nami's.

Keimi had looked up at this point and had her hand flat on the glass wall of the tank, her face as close as she could get it without pressing it flat against. There was a wide, disbelieving grin on her beautiful face, and she looked as if she could cry with joy. Hachi stood up and waved, "Keimi! We're here to save you, Keimi!" Pappug was leaping up and down on his shoulder. Sanji flung himself forward, lovehearts spewing everywhere,

"Keimi-chwaaaaaan! It's me, Sanji-kun!~~" He sang, arms open wide to her. Everyone joined in, waving and smiling at the joy of having got their friend back. Stellar stood on her chair, her eyes twinkling with hope. She threw a hopeful smile to her mermaid friend and, though she looked shocked at first, Keimi waved and smiled too.

"That's two hundred million Beli for the mermaid Keimi to the red head. Going once... Going twice..."

"Five hundred million."

The words shattered the perfectly happy scene that had fallen on the group of friends. Stellar saw Keimi's face fall into a look of horror that matched that of the Strawhats. The crowd gasped at the sudden turn of events and Stellar whipped her head around to see the man stood in the opposite stalls, a wide smirk on his face.

He looked at them all in turn with a cocky look in his eyes, "I bid five hundred million."

From his seat, Trafalgar saw the whole exchange like a mother over her unruly child. He looked from the shattered look on the girl's face to the short, fat, selfish excuse of a World Noble. He fixed him with an accusing glare, "Charlos..." He murmured as he studied the black-haired man.

The World Noble Charlos was a prime example of why the surgeon didn't like people.

Trafalgar leaned forward in his seat, uncrossing his legs to rest his elbows on his knees. ' _What a horrible, fat little man...'_ He thought before smirking, _'I think he'd be fun to experiment on.'_

He stood up and brushed down his hoodie, putting his hand in his pocket as he slipped through the line of people on his row. He'd go get his Nodachi from Bepo and then the real fun could begin but then again, maybe he'll watch from a far for a while till the right time comes and then he can have his own fun. He chuckled softly to himself,

"I wonder what the inside of a World Noble looks like?" He mused.


	4. The Chance, The Letter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was made and polished by @mustangisinflames. This story was created last 2013 and this amazing person was able to make this beautiful. Thank you very much.
> 
> Enjoy!

"What the hell kind of landing do you call that?!"

"He said to crash it here!"

"Shishishishi!"

"Shut up, Luffy!"

As the dust settled, three figures could be seen rising to their feet. Underneath some scattered debris and building work a large flying fish lay unconscious, its body pathetically limp. The figures all rubbed their faces, smearing grime and grit on their cheeks. Among them was a very flustered looking Fishman Rider, a tall man covered in dust with swords hanging from his right hip, and a young boy clutching a strawhat protectively to his chest as he laughed wildly.

The whole Auction House was in a unanimous stunned silence, the cries of bidding and slaves long forgotten. Stellar stood staring with her mouth agape, trying to process what had just happened. Sanji had lit up a cigarette nonchalantly and put his hands in his pockets, both him and Franky looking as if this was a normal everyday occurrence. Hachi, Pappug and Chopper looked horrified and Nami simply covered her face with a hand. Only a few seconds ago had Charlos just bought their friend Keimi, but that had seemed to be lost in the moment when the trio and the flying fish smashed through into the room, taking part of a wall and some of the ceiling with them. Now all eyes in the room appeared to be on them. Even Charlos was gawking.

The tall man with the swords coughed and a plume of white dust puffed out from his mouth. He rubbed a palm over his hair and some of the dirt tumbled away to reveal a shock of green. Then he looked up, gathering his surroundings, and frowned, putting a hand on his hip, "Where's the boat? I could've sworn it was here..."

Beside her, Stellar saw Sanji's lips twist into a wicked grin, "What's up, Marimo? You lost again?" He shouted, shattering the stunned silence.

The green haired pirate whipped around to face them. When his eyes saw the blonde a scowl decorated his tanned face, "I'm not lost, shitty cook! The boat just... moved, that's all..."

Sanji barked a laugh, "Shitty swordsman!" He shot a smirk at Stellar, "He's so directionally challenged. Honestly, I've never met anyone with such a bad sense of direction!" He laughed again and Stellar giggled silently behind her hand, stopping and blushing furiously when the swordsman turned his scowl on her.

"Stupid curly brow..." He uttered.

Immediately the smile on Sanji's faces fell, "Say that again, Marimo! I dare you!"

"Get your weird-ass eyebrows out of my face!"

The boy with the strawhat was laughing madly, clutching at his stomach. The crowd were watching with confused and amused looks as the two pirates screamed insults at one another. Nami waved down, "Luffy!"

The strawhat guy looked up and grinned broadly, "Naaamiiii!" He called and put the hat on his head as he bolted up towards their seats. Sanji made to run down at the green haired pirate, a murderous look on his face, when Nami snagged his collar and tugged him back roughly,

"Cut it out you two..." She frowned, "Or I'll raise both your debts."

"Hai, Nami-swaaaan!~"

"Sea witch..."

"What did you just call her you ugly brute?! My precious Nami-swan is not-"

Stellar flinched as another well placed slap made a direct hit. Sanji held his head, a pained smile on his face, "N-nami-swan is always right..."

The green haired man smirked.

"Neh, who're you?"

Stellar almost rocketed into the air as a loud voice screamed in her ear. She jumped; spinning midair to meet the face of what she assumed was the infamous rookie Monkey D. Luffy. She stared dumbly at him. He was grinning like a madman in an asylum despite the chunks of building in his hair and he was fidgeting constantly, like a child who couldn't stay still. Surely this- this... well, this kid couldn't be one of the most well-known pirate captains in charge of a supposed 'bloodthirsty' crew. Nami must have caught her look because she smiled almost pitifully, "Yeah. That's our Captain."

Luffy thrust out his hand and snagged Stellar's shaking it with a little too much enthusiasm, "Monkey D. Luffy, nice to meet you!"

The name seemed to echo around the Auction House. People began to murmur to each other. Some left quietly, forgetting their purchases. From his seat across, Stellar could see the nervous look grace Charlos' s face.

"Stellar..." She whispered, not quite trusting her voice in the midst of all the tension, "Stellar Stefwill." Why she introduced herself so freely to this man, she did not know. Maybe it was because it's normal courtesy to reply to his introduction or maybe it was his smile that attracted her and immediately made her feel he could be trusted.

Luffy laughed and swung out an arm, grabbing the green haired pirate he'd crash landed with. Stellar squeaked as the limb stretched impossibly long and wound its way around the green pirate's waist. The pirate looked down and Stellar heard him curse, "Wait, Luffy! NO!"

The captain laughed and his arm snapped back into place causing the swordsman to soar right past and smack into the wall, leaving a human shaped indent. Stellar cracked a knowing smile as the captain chuckled, "Are you a Devil fruit user?"

"Huhhh? Yeah, I'm a rubber man!" Luffy crowed proudly and hooked his fingers at the corners of his mouth and pulled, stretching the skin impossibly wide. Stellar gasped in amazement and a few of the onlookers in the Auction House screamed.

Suddenly the raven-haired captain was on the floor, flat on his ass and rubbing his head, "Neh, Zoro, what was that for?!"

The green haired pirate, Zoro, snarled, "You do that again and I'll kill you!"

"Are you hurt? Any of you?" Chopper chirped, hopping up onto a chair to look at the two with big soft doe eyes.

"No Chopper, we're fine."

"You better not be lying to me-"

"ENOUGH!"

The Strawhats, Stellar, Hachi and Pappug jumped in surprise at the voice. Stellar looked up to see Charlos leaning against the railings, glaring down at them. His face was menacing, and his teeth were displayed in a warped, angry smile, "I know what you're here for Strawhat Luffy, but you're not going to have it!"

Looking across, Stellar saw the Strawhat Captain frown and tilt his head, "Huh?" He glanced at his crew, "What's that fat guy talking about?"

The crowd gasped collectively, and some fled right then, not wanting to get involved in a fight at all. Stellar bit back a smile as Charlos seemed to get angrier by the second. His face had turned an alarming shade of red, his teeth were gritted and he had gripped the rail so hard that the wood creaked in protest. Sanji struck up a cigarette and doused the match out in one fluid movement. He slotted it between his fingers, taking a deep drag before blowing a long wisp of smoke out, "That is the man who just outbid us by three hundred million Beli, Captain."

"Wha? What do you mean?" Asked Luffy.

Nami rolled her eyes, "He bought Keimi before we could, stupid."

Luffy closed his eyes and when he opened them a frighteningly serious look had settled on his face. He tipped back the brim of his strawhat and fixed Charlos with a determined stare, "Did he?" He asked aloud, but it was more to himself than everyone else.

"So what if I did? I bought her, she's mine!" Charlos sneered.

"You better give her back," The Captain's voice was deathly calm. One arm hung limply at his side, the other clung to his hat. Zoro stepped in behind him, a strong tanned hand hovering over the hilts of his swords. Charlos guffawed loudly,

"I don't want to give her back! I bought her fair and square, she's my property now you idiot! I'm a World Noble, a pirate like you can't do anything."

Luffy said nothing but his hand shifted and the brim of the strawhat toppled forward to cover his eyes. He clenched his hand into a fist, "I don't care what you are. You can't buy people like that. Keimi is our friend, she doesn't belong to you... Now give her back."

Nami took Stellar by the wrist and tugged her back to stand slightly away. Stellar whispered a small thank you for her kindness which Nami returned with a cheeky grin.

Charlos smirked, "Well I don't want to give her back."

"Then I'm gonna have to kick your ass!" Luffy barked.

Charlos laughed hysterically, "Oh? And what's a no-good pirate like you going to-"

The World Noble didn't get chance to finish that sentence as Luffy's arm shot out and a fist smashed into his jaw. Charlos was knocked back and over his chair by the sheer force of the punch. The room suddenly exploded into madness. People screamed, some tried to run and flee the building. The Slave master by Keimi's tank had disappeared into the flurry of panicked people. Stellar saw the opportunity and moved, dodging smoothly and weaving between bodies. Hachi called out to her, "Stellar what are you doing?!"

She yelled quickly over her shoulder, "I'll get Keimi. Please do not worry!"

"No, Stellar wait!"

She ignored him, bolting for the stage and pushing everyone out of the way. She locked her eyes onto the stage. She wasn't that far now. Keimi was waving at her, shaking her head. Stellar pulled to a stop at the bottom of the steps at the side of the stage, "I'm gonna get you out of here, Keimi! It's okay!"

The tank was huge with steps dragged up it to get to the top where a large iron padlock held the air holed lid down tight. Stellar ran at it, cloak billowing out behind her and boots thunking on the wooden boards of the stage. She hopped on the first step when a shout and the scrape of metal caught her attention. She whirled around to see one of the Slave master's henchmen drawing a sword and coming at her.

"What do you think you're doing, girly?" He asked.

Stellar narrowed her pearly eyes and felt the familiar tug in the pit of her stomach as her body kicked into autopilot. She could feel the power moving, coiling down her arms like serpents. The man lunged and swung and she had to jump back onto the next step to avoid it. She threw up her fist, her eyes deadly as she aimed straight to his jaw. However, she was suddenly out of balance when the earth shook abruptly while explosions could be heard in the background. She narrowly missed the blade aimed on neck as she tried to keep her balance straight.

The man swung the blade again and she yelped, narrowly dodging. She turned and ran up the tank's steps, Keimi banging loudly on the glass and screaming words that were lost in the water that surrounded her. Stellar wriggled her fingers desperately, annoyed at the fact she's cornered by this man.

The man prowled up the steps, getting ever closer. Stellar took a step back, the steps had no railings and if she went off the ledge, she couldn't help Keimi at all. Stellar glanced at the mermaid, she had swum to the top of the tank and was pushing desperately at the lid, smacking her fists against it though it was no use with the padlock there. The man was an arms breadth away now, he raised the sword and slashed at her again. The blade nicked her cheek and she stumbled back, hissing in pain, when her foot landed on nothing and she fell from the steps. She gasped and swung up her arm, just about catching the ledge with her fingers. The man stood, sneering down at her, "Nowhere to run now, sweetie."

She felt like crying. She was extremely careless and overconfident. If Rayleigh found out she was bested by this mere human, she will be scolded for eternity. She seriously wonders if she was losing her touch in fighting.

The man stood before and shot her a malicious grin. Stellar took a deep breath, her eyes gleaming slightly as violet crystals slowly surrounded her free hand. _'I honestly do not want to gain more attention but I have to take the risk.'_ Stellar narrowed her eyes dangerously to the man but he only laughed maniacally and swung his sword straight to Stellar but...

The blow never landed.

Stellar's eyes widened when the henchman stared at her in horror. Something warm dripped onto her face as she dangled from the edge, crystals disappearing like broken glasses from her hand and she looked up to see a blade sticking out of the man's front. Keimi had given up on hitting the glass and simply watched, hand over her mouth, as the man slowly died. Stellar saw his eyes slowly glaze over as he trembled and shuddered on the object that held him. Then the silver blade suddenly vanished, and the man slumped sideways, now a corpse.

A new figure loomed over, and a strong hand grabbed Stellar's wrist and hauled her up. She sat on her knees on the now blood-stained boards and wiped the wet from her face, shuddering when she realised it was the man's blood. She swallowed, "Thank you."

She lifted her head but there was no one there. She frowned when Keimi rapped the glass and pointed at the gap between Stellar's knees. She followed and saw the little iron key glittering temptingly there. She picked it up carefully, stood and slotted it into the lock. Keimi threw up the lid immediately and leaned over the rim, an arm outstretched in a point, "There that's him! There!"

Stellar spun around and watched in surprise as the outline of Trafalgar Law sheathing a long Nodachi sword walked down the stage steps and vanished into the screaming crowds.

Without a second's hesitation, Stellar ran down the stairs and on to the stage, "Please wait!" She tried to follow but he was long gone, lost amongst the bodies, "Law..."

A sudden crack split the air and the hairs on Stellar's neck leapt to attention. The last of the swarms of people fled through the exits like wildfire and left Stellar a wonderful view of the Strawhats and Charlos. They all seemed to be stood stock still looking from one to the other, worry in their faces.

Charlos was holding a gun and the end was still smoking.

A bullet had been fired.

Charlos was looking proud despite his swollen jaw from Luffy's punch and when he spoke; his words ran through Stellar like a hot knife through butter, "Filthy merman."

The Strawhats and Stellar turned as Hachi let out a startled gasp. His coat was gone, his multiple arms displayed as they wrapped around his middle and debris was scattered around him. _'That's why everyone panicked,'_ Stellar thought, _'They saw he was a merman...'_ Hachi coughed and a little blood sputtered from his mouth. He smiled, almost apologetically, and unfurled his arms to reveal the gunshot wound running through him.

"Hachi…"

* * *

(Banaro island, Grand Line)

_'Ace,_

_I hope my letter finds you well. Nothing much has happened here; it is a quiet island after all. There are no Marines so I'm safe here for now. You should visit sometime soon, like you promised you would. Don't worry about me moving, I think I'll be here a good few month now if I keep out of trouble. And if that changes then I'll just have to write another letter and you can try again. Or I could visit you._

_Keep yourself safe and please stay away from trouble even though I know you will anyway._

_I miss you._

_Love,_

_Stellar'_

Portgas D. Ace stopped reading the letter and smiled, folding the parchment up into his pocket. There was a warm feeling in his chest like all the other times he'd received a letter from her. He shifted on the rooftop and watched as his four targets walked down the street.

"Well then, prepare to leave! Don't get delayed!"

He watched as the ringleader, a grossly fat man with tanned skin and plenty of coarse black hair on his face and stomach, called triumphantly. Ace felt the sun warming his back and he leaned back on one hand, the roof slates rough against the pads of his fingers as he swept dark locks from his face with the other. He let the posse wander a little further and licked his lips with a pink tongue, "Wait a minute, Teach... I've been looking for you."

The fat man, Teach, froze and Ace saw his back muscles tensing. He smiled, happy in the knowledge that he was still feared and respected. A slight wind had picked up and it played in the tendrils of Ace's raven hair, trying to tug it free from the orange hat that trapped it. His dark eyes regarded Teach from above freckled cheeks.

Teach turned on his heel and when he saw Portgas he smiled forcefully, "Oh! Ace!" He said in mock surprise. Ace gave him a dead panned look though inside he was relishing in how Teach's eyes showed fear, "Commander!"

Ace dipped his head and scoffed at the title; he rubbed his thumb over a tile listening to it scrape. His eyes shifted up, shadowed menacingly by the brim of his hat, "Knock it off. Commander is a word only those respectful of that person are allowed to say," His voice dropped, low and threatening, "Stop mocking."

Teach glowered at Ace. Ace just looked at him like he was a waste of time. Which was exactly what Teach was- a waste of time and air. Ace moved his hand to finger the corner of Stellar's letter which was jutting out from his pocket. One pirate stood behind Teach edged forward slightly, fingers drumming on the wooden cane behind his back, "So you're the famous Fire Fist Ace..."

Ace's lips curled upwards at the nickname, "Yeah, that's right. Nice to meet you," He addressed Teach once more, "It seems you've become quite a Captain, right? Captain of the Blackbeard pirates, Marshall D. Teach."

Teach laughed, showing off the gaps in his teeth. He shrugged, "What's wrong, Ace?! It's been a long time! What's the matter? How did you know I was here?"

Ace's fingers grabbed Stellar's letter subtly, 'Don't do anything stupid' she'd said. _'I'm sorry, Stellar,'_ he thought as he smirked at Teach, "Teach, stop asking useless questions. You took a man's life. You must have a comprehension of the current situation. Isn't that right?"

Teach growled and when the first shot was delivered Ace's body spewed up flames and the battle commenced. A fight between light and darkness. And the darkness consumed and destroyed.

Ace rolled onto his back, panting hard as his consciousness ebbed away. He stared up at the blue sky above him, his mouth dry and his body wracked with pain. His sight blurred with tears rather than his body giving out. He closed his eyes, _'I'm sorry, Stellar,'_ He thought, _'I'm so sorry.'_


	5. Silvers Rayleigh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really love Trafalgar Law. He has this sexy vibe and being a doctor only adds to his hotness. I am happy he have more screen time and Oda showed another side of him. He's a dork and I love it! 
> 
> Enjoy this new chapter! Stay safe!

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Hachi fell to the floor. Stellar's body stilled and a familiar emotion boiled inside of her waiting to spread like wildfire. She barely acknowledged Chopper dashing over and rolling Hachi on his back, pulling medical supplies from his tiny blue bag. Luffy turned, nothing but fury on his face and anger in his eyes. Zoro drew two katanas, the blades glinting off the lights. Charlos panicked and turned the gun on the swordsman in response. Zoro growled and if he was scared, he didn't show it.

Stellar, on the other hand, was itching to pierce the world noble's chest that she was starting to release small glasses of crystals on her palm. Stellar took a step forward, unaware that the action itself caused the atmosphere to become unbearably suffocating. Her deadly aura caused the others to stop whatever they are doing, their natural instincts screaming for them to run, to leave despite fear overtaking their bodies. Everyone held their breath as the woman with pearl eyes slowly raised her hand—

"He'll be alright!" Chopper chirped as he wrapped swathes of bandages around the merman's chest. Stellar paused after hearing what the doctor said. She let her crystal shattered in the air, her shoulders drooped as she released a breath of relief. _'Thank the heavens.'_

Guilt immediately washed over her when she noticed the people still present in the room cried, and fall on the floor, heaving as if they were chased. Some were tensed, shaking while some stand frozen not knowing what to do.

Luffy nodded, seemingly oblivious. "I'm still gonna kick this guy's ass."

Suddenly, the ground trembled as a large wave of power blew out. Charlos dropped the gun, slumping to the ground as he collapsed, unconscious.

"My, what a mess you've made of the place..." Footsteps resounded on the stage behind and a thing smile appeared to Stellar's lips when she heard the voice she knew so well, "I'm very impressed."

Stellar's breath shook, rubbing a hand on her cheek to regain her composure. "Calm down," she whispered to herself before turning to meet the eyes of the person she was looking for from the very beginning. She smiled, though a bit forced but still grateful of her old friend's presence.

Silvers Rayleigh returned the grin, the scar over his right eye crinkling. His white hair was brushed back from his face and his glasses reflected the stage lights, "Stellar, it's been a long time. Perhaps a little too long..."

"I've been... busy," She explained and tucked a hair behind her ear. Yes, busy. Busy running away, afraid of being caught, desperate on being alive.

Rayleigh nodded, fully understanding. "I'm sure you have," He turned to the pirates, "If you're after the money here I'm afraid you won't find any- I've already taken it."

"Who's the old man?" Luffy asked, jerking his thumb in the direction of Silvers. The crew shrugged. The old man chuckled, "I am Silvers Rayleigh. Former Roger pirate and First Mate to the Pirate King."

Every single person in the room became silent.

"WHAT?!"

Luffy nodded, "Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm gonna be the next Pirate King!"

"I'm sure you are," Rayleigh said, amused and turned to Stellar once more, "Now I believe you wished to speak to me?"

"Yes," Stellar confirmed, her voice turning serious. "It's difficult to look for you when you are trying to sell yourself."

"Well you know me, always fashionably late. Plus, there was some money laying around that had my name on it."

"I'm pretty sure it wasn't your money at all." Stellar smiled knowingly.

"You know me far too well," Silvers said dryly, then frowned, "Oh Hachi, where did you get such a wound?!"

Stellar turned and let out a sigh of relief as she saw her friend on his feet. He was being supported up by Sanji and Pappug was sitting on the merman's shoulder. Hachi tried to talk but it looked too painful.

"No, it's okay. No need to explain," The white-haired pirate assured him.

He made to resume the conversation with Stellar when a figure stepped out from one of the exits. Leather boots clunked on the floor as a tall man with crazily spiked, blood red hair made his presence known. A heavy fur coat clung to his broad shoulders and he smiled with crimson lips, "So you managed it by yourselves then. Maybe I should give you more credit Strawhat Luffy."

Beside her, Stellar noticed Rayleigh narrow his eyes, "Eustass. What do you want?"

"To help a fellow Captain out," Eustass' dark eyes locked on Luffy, "Marines are headed this way. Word is they're gonna send an admiral to kick your asses," He turned back to Silvers, "What did you think I was going to do?"

"No one knows when it comes to you, Eustass Kid."

Stellar felt the unpleasant aura emanating from the redheaded pirate. He felt dangerous, untrustworthy. She kept her eyes on him.

"Eustass-ya, what a pleasant surprise."

Eustass visibly tensed, his face stunned for a moment before his painted lips curled in a coy smile, "The same to you, Trafalgar."

The Captain of the Heart pirates seemed to materialise out of thin air. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed and head down. Next to him, in a large vivid orange boiler suit stood a large, big eyed polar bear, Trafalgar's Nodachi resting in its big paws. Trafalgar's lips twitched slightly, "So, where are Captain Eustass Kid's famous pirate crew?" His tone was mocking, and his voice echoed around the room. The Strawhats were watching intensely as was Silvers and Keimi. Stellar regarded the Captain nervously. Much like Eustass, something about this man made the hairs on the back of her neck prickle in discomfort. She felt the familiar sensation of power, like a warm wave, wash down her right arm but she kept it restrained- she'd only use it if he tried something funny.

She clenched her fist and Eustass spoke again, "I could say the same to you, Law."

Trafalgar's head lifted but his grey eyes sailed past the redhead and locked on Stellar. Stellar's heart leapt, her cheeks slightly coloring, and she brought her arm in slightly in defense. The Captain smirked and looked down at her fist, a fine black eyebrow arching in a perfect curve, "Oh, my crew? They're around here somewhere I'm sure. Why? Are you worried something happened to yours?" He pulled his eyes slowly off Stellar whose heart was still thudding like crazy; she was surprised he hadn't heard it beating.

Eustass' face twisted into a snarl, "Are you suggesting my crew is weak?"

Trafalgar rubbed his left knuckles with his fingers, tracing over the inked letters that permanently printed 'DEATH' into his skin. He pulled an innocent face, "I never said such a thing, Eustass-ya."

"You bloody well suggested it, you bastard!" Kid barked.

Law raised his hands in mock surrender, "Okay, okay, you got me. Strawhat-ya," His gunmetal eyes flickered to Luffy who was watching the conversation with interest, "My crew will take care of the Marines."

"No! Mine will!" Eustass barked, glaring daggers at the Heart Captain. Trafalgar pretended not to notice though the giant polar bear growled threateningly.

"Are you sure, Eustass-ya? I mean, my crew are very prepared and ready to-"

"No, my crew-"

"OI!"

The two Captains looked up from their bickering to see Luffy staring down at them with his arms crossed, "Stop fighting," he commanded. Stellar and Nami smiled, relieved that someone had taken control of the situation.

Luffy pointed to himself defiantly, "My crew is better and we will fight the Marines!"

Nami facepalmed with a heavy sigh that was almost a growl. Stellar almost joined her when a cry split the air,

"Pirates inside the building! We know you're in there Strawhat Luffy, Trafalgar Law, Eustass Kid and Silvers Rayleigh!"

The voice caught the attention of all three arguing Captains and they all turned their heads simultaneously toward the open exit doors, "We demand that you release your captives and the Rosward Family then please come and surrender! An Admiral is on his way and we have you surrounded. Surrendering is your only option and we ask that you do so now!"

Silvers laughed dryly, "It seems I've attracted a little attention, eh? I'm awfully sorry about that."

Stellar on the other hand was panicking. The marines did not know she was present but it only gave her little comfort. Dealing with the marines, especially an admiral was what she badly needed to avoid at all cost. Trafalgar looked at her inquisitively and parted his lips, "What do we do?" He asked.

Eustass frowned, "They have us surrounded."

Trafalgar sighed, "Marines always say that. You shouldn't be so gullible, Eustass-ya."

"Nobody asked your opinion you freak... And I'm not gullible."

Rayleigh rolled his eyes in Stellar's direction and Stellar nodded in agreement. All the Captains were like stubborn children. Everything was a competition to be better than the other. Stellar cleared her throat to get their attention, "Please stop fighting. We...we're not getting anywhere."

Everyone's eyes locked on her and she faltered in her speech, especially when two smoky grey eyes met hers, she could feel the heat starting to form on her porcelain cheeks, "Oh, um... Well what I mean is that we need... we need a plan of attack," She tried to look anywhere but at the Heart Captain. She could feel his piercing gaze on her, heavy and scrutinizing. His lips twitched slightly.

"So what you're saying is we should team up?" He asked, pushing himself away from the wall and walking slowly and deliberately to stand closer to Eustass and Luffy. The polar bear in the boiler suit trailed closely behind, clutching the Nodachi close. Law stared at her expectantly.

"Yes," Stellar said calmly.

Eustass narrowed his eyes, "Why should-"

"Well I agree with..." Law cut in and looked at Stellar, gestured at her with a tattooed hand.

"Stellar, Stellar Stefwill."

Law smirked, "Well I agree with Stellar-ya. We should work together."

"But-" Eustass started. Law glared at him,

"How about this: we will work together."

Eustass scowled but said no more. Luffy uncrossed his arms and his stern expression gave way for a big smile, "Yosh! I agree with Stellar too!"

Trafalgar's lips crawled into a half smile and he held out a hand into which the polar bear placed the Nodachi delicately. His tattooed fingers curled around the case and his eyes flashed dangerously, he looked at Stellar, "And what will you do, Stellar-ya?"

Stellar felt her cheeks reddening and cursed herself silently for being too shy, "I'm going to free the slaves." She whipped her head to Rayleigh, forcing herself to ignore the intense look of the Heart Captain. "We will talk later. If that is alright with you?"

Rayleigh shook his head at her kindness, "I always love talking with you so I will wait no matter how long it is."

"Forever a sweet talker, Ray." she teased. Just like the old times.

"Hey, Trafal-guy!"


	6. Bartholomew Kuma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is alright and well. I know 2020 started in a mess and still a mess, but I pray that everyone still doesn't lose hope. I want some of you to at least have a smile on your face by reading my story so please enjoy reading!

Stellar stepped into the shadow of the stage curtains, checking briefly over her shoulder as she brought a hand to her face. Her fingers traced the cut from the henchman's blade tentatively and she winced as it stung sharply. She closed her eyes and pressed her fingertips into the wound, blood oozing slowly down her cheek. A soft purple glow appeared on her hand.

A hot wave bled down her arm and the familiar sensation of tugging pulled in the pit of her stomach. The skin stretched as it was forced back together and a dim violet hue wove through it like stitches, healing the flesh entirely. Stellar withdrew the power after a few more seconds and ran her hand over her cheek, feeling the slight ridge of a scar that would soon vanish completely. She smiled at her handiwork.

"Yo, Stellar!"

She froze. Oh God. Had somebody seen it? She rubbed the leftover blood thoroughly from her face and turned slowly. It was Franky.

The cyborg held up a ring of keys, rattling them temptingly, "If you're gonna free any slaves you'll need these, eh?" He tossed them to her and she snatched them clumsily from the air, a wary smile on her lips.

"Thank you, Franky-san," She said. Franky saluted her lazily with a lopsided grin.

"Yosh, anytime," He replied and left, moving after the Strawhat crew.

Stellar felt her entire body relax. She gripped the keys tightly in her fist and set off for the back of the stage, jumping the steps to reach the large cage the people were trapped in. Some of them were men- mainly ex-pirates or convicts- but mostly they were women and children. They were all cramped up, sitting and standing. One woman held two children to her, trying to comfort them, and the rest all stared numbly through the bars like all the life was beaten out of them (which it probably was). She ran to the door, snatching up the padlock and ramming keys into it in an attempt to find the right one. Eventually, the tumblers turned and the lock clattered to the floor, she swung the door open. Tens of pairs of eyes all stared at her with the same wary, untrusted look.

"Go, all of you, while you still can," She ordered and rummaged through the keys, pulling the smallest one off the ring and unlocked the cuffs of the nearest slave. She then pressed the key into the man's now free hands, "Set them all free and get out of here," She softly said. The slave burst into tears and embraced her.

"God bless you..." He sobbed. Stellar patted him on the shoulder gently and pulled away.

"Free them. I have to go."

The man nodded madly and set to work. Stellar left and ran back out across the stage. She jumped down and landed deftly. She noticed Keimi and her tank were gone. _'Strawhats must've taken care of that'_ she thought and ran for the exit and down the path leading away from the Auction House. Not too far away she heard the cries and roars of men in battle. Metal clashed as swords met and the air cracked from ammunition rounds. She pulled to a halt and let her eyes scan the area, searching. There, a little further down, at what she recognized to be Grove 1 were the plumes of smoke and the bang of explosions. She set off again, heading there. Her feet crunched against the path as she ran, her hair and cloak fanned out behind her.

A sudden earth shaking bang rattled the ground beneath her feet and she stumbled, tripping up and grazing the skin of her arms and knees as she fell. She scrambled up quickly, staggering to regain her balance. A little to the left of her was now the remains of what was until just now a small bridge. It had caved in on itself, wood cracked and jutting up at odd angles. She made for it and clambered up, ditching the cloak as it kept snagging on the mess beneath her, revealing her long skirt and loose sweater.

From here she could see the whole battle and it didn't look good. Large craters were punched through the soil, bodies of Marines littered the ground and, much to her surprise, Trafalgar Law and Eustass Kid were fighting together, flanked on either side by their crews. The two Captains were stood defensively, the white polar bear dropped into a fighting stance beside Law with a frightfully determined look on its face. Stellar stretched up onto the balls of her feet; desperate to see who it was they were pitted against.

The smoke that was coiled in front of the two pirates was swept away and Stellar raised her eyebrows as a very familiar face appeared.

"Bartholomew Kuma?" She mused and dropped down from the bridge onto the other side of the bank. Kuma had raised his enormous hands and, where she had once seen paws was a gaping hole. The closer she got, the louder the metallic whirring she could hear thrumming from Kuma's palms. A bright light was building up bigger and bigger in his hands. She could see the worried look on Eustass' face and Trafalgar had drawn his Nodachi, holding the blade at an angle in preparation for an attack.

An ear-splitting BANG struck the air as a beam shot out of one of Kuma's hands. It narrowly missed the Captains and embedded itself into the ground, throwing up grassy turf everywhere.

Stellar ran at them, panicked now. It had been a while since she had laid eyes on Bartholomew but obviously, he'd changed his style greatly since then and there was no way that Kid and Law could hold their ground against him. Even she, with her powers, had struggled to take down Kuma those many years ago and his new style looked even deadlier than the last. She was panting by the time she reached them, and she almost couldn't get out her words.

"Crystal!" She yelled, bringing her arms across to her side as she charged. The ball of light in Kuma's hand was ready to go off and Law and Kid didn't move, both staring with matching shocked expressions at her intrusion. Stellar ignored them and swung up her arms, "Shield!"

Purple light gushed from her hands, ballooning out over her and the two men. Eustass cried out, as the light solidified into indigo slabs of crystal. The beam from Kuma burst out and ricocheted uselessly off the shield. Stellar brought her arms down, the crystals melting back into light that danced along her wrists.

"What the Hell are you?!" Eustass yelled, watching as the shield disappeared, "What the Hell was that?!"

Stellar blanked the shocked Captain out, looking up at her enemy with her serious pearl-like eyes, "Bartholomew... Kuma."

Kuma watched her from behind his glasses. He paused, lowering his arms, "Stellar Stefwill."

"It's nice to know that you still remember me."

Kuma remained silent and Stellar cannot help but feel that the person in front of her is not the Kuma she knew.

She took a step forward as she assessed the warlord with calculating eyes, "What are you doing here, Kuma-san?" Kuma did not reply. She tried again. "Why do you have the same power as Kizaru?" she asked hesitantly.

Stellar furrowed her brown in confusion. This is not right. Kuma is eerily quiet, only staring at her with that an unreadable face of his. Stellar took another step forward, "What…happened to you?"

Without warning, a beam lashed out from Kuma's hand swiftly and Stellar just managed to deflect the blow with another shield, her muscles straining against it. Sparks blew out as the two relented, Kuma's light snuffed out and Stellar's shield shattered, the crystals disintegrating before they could touch the ground. _'This is not Kuma,'_ Stellar grimly thought.

"Oi, bitch! What the goddamn Hell are you?" Eustass barked, interrupting once more.

Stellar replied with firmness on her voice. "Let me help you, Eustass-san."

"No! We don't need some prissy, stuck up-"

Stellar narrowed her eyes in a glare, "Do you want to lose your life, **Eustass-san**?!"

Eustass paused mid rant and growled, "Fine! But you better not get in my way, you hear?"

Stellar shook her head in disbelief and sighed, "Crystal!" She spread her arms out wide, "Sword!"

The crystals sprung to life out of her arms, slotting together into a large blade. She gripped the handle with both hands and bent her knees.

"Fascinating," She heard Trafalgar murmur behind her and jumped in shocked, now only realizing the man's presence. She felt the heat creep into her cheeks. There was a clank of metal next to her and, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the tip of Trafalgar's Nodachi glint threateningly, "You'll make this fight very interesting, Stellar-ya. I know it."

She released a tight smile and held the blade of her sword out a little more at Kuma who was flexing his fingers as he sized all three of them up.

"Let's end this as quickly as possible."


	7. Bear vs. Demon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For everyone's information, the OC's first name is Stellar, and her last name is Stefwill. It did not occur my mind that I should have wrote it like in Japan. Thank you for pointing it out, Starlieyed!
> 
> Enjoy, enjoy!

Trafalgar thrust his sword through another Marine. The man gasped as he was skewered in the chest and Trafalgar looked at him with bored eyes, _'Pathetic,'_ he thought, and looked at the wound he'd created. It was a curable injury, well it was if he treated it, but he wasn't feeling so merciful today. He stared the coughing Marine in the eyes, enjoying the fear, the raw terror which he saw. The man was trying to grip the blade frantically to pull himself off, but it only cut his palms, slicking them with blood and they slipped off.

"If you do that," Trafalgar said, "You'll only die quicker. And that would ruin my fun."

The Marine ignored him, still attempting to remove the blade that Law held. The pirate Captain shook his head and twisted the hilt roughly. Blood spattered up his wrists and hands, hot and thick as the wound ripped savagely open. Death was instant. He jostled his Nodachi and the dead Marine slid off, crumpling to the ground, "I told you," He said calmly to the corpse and moved on for his next target.

To his left Eustass Kid was lost in the heat of the battle, his fists pummeling down man after man after man with his teeth bared in a snarl and his eyes wild like a feral beast. Trafalgar wiped the blood and remains of entrails stuck to his sword on his trouser leg, staining the light blue denim almost black with the liquid when a bang went off beside him and the ground shuddered. He lost his balance, growling in pain as the blade of his own Nodachi ripped through the fabric and gashed his leg. He landed on his back, striking his elbow painfully and lay there a moment, completely disoriented.

"Captain!"

Law felt his hand being encased by a huge furry one and he was hauled to his feet. The big white polar bear checked him over with worried eyes, "Captain, are you alright?!"

Trafalgar stretched his arm out, wincing at the throbbing in his elbow. It wasn't broken, just bruised, "Yeah Bepo, I'm okay."

Bepo looked greatly relieved and busied himself in picking up the forgotten Nodachi and Law scooped up his hat, brushing off the dirt. There was another loud grunt and a clash that rang through the air, he looked up to see Stellar swinging up the crystal sword, slashing the beam away. She moved swiftly, lithe like a cat hunting, and deep purple mist coiled around her ankles and up to her knees, those stunning pearl eyes almost glowing. He found himself unable to stop staring. It was unlike anything he had ever seen in his life. What was it? A Devil Fruit power? If it was, he'd certainly never heard of it.

He was surprised, impressed almost, that this girl could hold her own ground so well in battle when mere minutes ago he'd saved her from being killed.

That was another thing that had him puzzled. Why did he save her? It wasn't like he owed anything to her. He was indebted to no one. So why?

Stellar's sword splintered as she clapped her hands together. She held them clasped like that and closed her eyes, not moving any further. Law looked to Kuma, the large Shichibukai had a beam aimed straight for her head.

Usually, something like this would not bother the Captain. He knew in battle that there were casualties and people he couldn't save and from his many years fighting he'd boxed himself away from petty emotions such as concern and fear which strived only to dull his mind and senses. He knew his crew could handle themselves no matter who or what they fought so why, why was he running at them with an arm outstretched despite the pain in his elbow, calling out? It was if he was moving on autopilot as he charged head on into danger. It wasn't that he was scared, he was hardly ever scared, but he wasn't stupid- as a Captain to his crew he couldn't just run in and get killed immediately. Law calculated, sized and noted the weaknesses in his enemies and exploited them to death.

"Oi! Watch out!" He yelled and skidded to a halt, placing himself in between the girl and Kuma. The Shichibukai glared down at him and Law cursed when he realized he was defenseless, his sword in an extremely worried Bepo's grasp. He flicked out a hand and caught the circle that appeared out of his palm, the spiked outside brushing past his fingers, "Room," He commanded.

The familiar blue light blew out from him, encasing Kuma, Stellar and a whole cluster of nearby Marines in the large orb he'd created. He smirked and Kuma turned the beam on him, "Stellar-ya!" He yelled, glancing over his shoulder, "Do something!"

Stellar's pearly eyes snapped open. They locked on his with a look that was a cross between shock and horror, "W-w-what are you doing?!"

"Saving your ass! Now do something!"

Bartholomew's fingers slowly began to lose their grip around the beam. Trafalgar growled, "Shambles!"

Screams took chorus in the air as bodies split apart. Limbs, torsos, heads pulled away from their bodies and Law flicked his wrist, casting them off to fly haphazardly in the room he had created. The beam in Kuma's hand dimmed slightly, the man's attention grabbed by body parts that narrowly missed him. He heard Stellar gasp behind him and, instead of feeling proud from the fear he had instilled, he shouted at her, "Do something! NOW!"

"Y-yes!"

He focused all of his energy on keeping the body parts and the room going, catching Stellar out of the corner of his eye as she ran around him, purple mist swirling. Bartholomew seemed to come to his senses, no longer distracted by the little sideshow and let the beam fly straight for Law's face. The light came so close he could feel the hairs on his arms getting singed and he almost lost his hold on the shambles.

"Crystal! Ball!"

Stellar leapt into the path of it and Trafalgar watched as a sphere of violet consumed Kuma. Stellar clenched her hands and the light became brittle, hardening into crystals once more, "Contract!"

The ball shrunk to a size that would surely crush the Shichibukai and Stellar held it firmly for a moment then let it disappear, the violet light vanishing entirely as she snuffed it out. When the dust cleared and settled Bartholomew Kuma became visible, sprawled out on the ground and not moving.

Instead of relief at the winning of their battle, Trafalgar felt anger. His elbow and the gash on his leg throbbed awfully, "Were you trying to get yourself hurt?!"

She turned to face him, her face flushed and eyes still glowing slightly, "No, I-"

"First the Auction House and now this!" The doctor raged. He didn't know why he was so angry, but it felt good to take it out on someone else, especially when that someone was the one he just couldn't figure out, "I don't just help anyone you know!"

"I-I-" She looked like she'd been slapped hard around the face and the fingers of her right hand held her left shoulder gently. He stepped toward her and roughly pulled her hand away, ignoring her slight hiss of pain. A slightly deep gash had hacked its way through flesh, the skin still smoking from where Kuma's beam had struck it.

"You're hurt, goddamn it!" He cursed. The girl was terrified, but he honestly didn't care right now. He let the room drop, body pieces falling to the ground. What was it about this girl? Dammit, what was it?! He inspected the wound briefly, "It'll need stitches," he growled, then he glared at her again, "What is it? What makes you different?! I don't help people like you!" He gripped his hat with one hand in his fury and made a strange snarling noise, "Do I owe you something?"

She shook her head, "N-no you-"

"Have I met you before?"

"No, I-"

"What is it then?! What do you want from me?"

He couldn't hold it any longer. All these questions building up into a pressure so strong it had finally burst, "Follow me," he ordered. He'd get his answers whatever it took. Something was drawing him to her, and he was set on finding out what it was.

He spun on his heel and stormed back to Bepo as best he could with an injured leg. He ignored the polar bear's worried fuss over him and snatched his Nodachi back from the animal. Eustass called out to him from amongst the unconscious or dead Marines that littered the ground at his feet,

"Yo, Law. Hate to break it to ya but it looks like your girl's getting away!"

"Hn?" The surgeon turned to see the outline of Stellar running off in the other direction. Law grit his teeth and held the Nodachi in a knuckle-whitening grip.

_'She'll be back,'_ he thought. If fate kept playing out like the way it had done, then he assumed it wouldn't be long until their next encounter. He watched her flee, long, snow-white hair blown out behind her as she moved. His gunmetal eyes never left her once.

_'She'll definitely be back.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Law sexy? Yes. Yes, he is.


	8. Borsalino

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, it's so hot! It's really summer!

"Silvers Rayleigh."

"Admiral Kizaru."

"When they told me you were here I almost didn't believe it."

"Why?"

"Well you've been out of it for some time. I was almost certain you were dead."

"You underestimate me, Kizaru-kun," Silvers smirked at the Admiral before him. Kizaru stood tall and proud, hands in the pockets of his yellow striped suit trousers and the Marine coat that hung off his shoulders flapped lazily out behind him. He wore a relaxed grin, the creases of his face wrinkling slightly and his eyes were hidden by amber tinted sunglasses.

"Maybe I did, Rayleigh."

Silvers pulled his sword from its sheath, "So what now. Are you here to give me justice?"

"It wasn't my original intention, no. I'm surprised to meet you here. I came to settle this little mess some rookie Captains have made. But now that you mention it, your punishment is long overdue."

"Come, come now," Silvers frowned, "Surely you could forgive an old man for the mistakes in his past?"

Kizaru simply smiled, "There is no forgiveness for a man from Gol D. Roger's crew."

Rayleigh chuckled and held the hilt of his sword a little tighter, "I knew you would say that."

"And I knew you'd never beg for mercy. You're not that kind of man. But, before I arrest you, I'd very much like you to tell me where the girl is, Rayleigh."

"Huh?" Silvers heart jumped a little, "What girl?"

"The girl, Rayleigh. The one from the Pirate King's legendary crew. The girl. You know who I mean. You know very well who I mean," Kizaru said.

"I don't know who you're talking about," Silvers growled.

"Oh, I think you do. She's been running from us for quite some time now and always just managed to give us the slip. 'Fire Fist' Ace used to help her. He made false trails that we followed every time. Looking back, I'm ashamed of how easily we were tricked. We were such fools, it's actually quite amusing," The Admiral chuckled and then cleared his throat, "But we know she's here for certain this time- there is no escape... for either of you."

Rayleigh swung his blade and Kizaru merely sidestepped, the weapon missing completely. There was a flash of light and a golden sword materialized in the Admiral's hand where it glowed brightly. Kizaru was still grinning, enthralled by another round of fight, "Give it up, Rayleigh, you're far too old and tired for all this now."

He lunged and Silvers just about parried it. There was an angered look on his face, and he held the handle of his sword a little tighter than was necessary.

"All this for one girl?" Kizaru mused, "Surely she's not worth it."

Rayleigh began swinging with anger, each attack becoming more and more ferocious, "She's nakama!" He stated.

Kizaru chuckled, "To a non-existent pirate crew and a dead Captain?" He said incredulously, stepping out of the way of the attacks. Silvers pulled back, sword and body poised and ready.

"Nakama is forever, not just for as long as the Captain says so."

"Hnn, so I've heard..."

The swords clashed again, the sound of metal on metal ringing in the air as the two men blocked, parried and attacked in a savage dance. Silvers managed to dodge the swings each time easily, the blade mere millimeters from his eyes.

"Heh, you're getting slow, old man," Kizaru smiled.

"Rayleigh!"

Silvers dropped and rolled away from the Admiral, the tip of the light sword just missing his head. He hopped nimbly to his feet and turned to face the slight ridge that rose up to a slope behind him and there, a tad bedraggled and bleeding, was Stellar.

Kizaru lowered the sword slightly, "Ah, here she is."

Silvers grunted in reply. He couldn't believe it. The foolish girl was running head on towards them, feet almost slipping up on the slope and her long snow-white hair slapping across her face, "Rayleigh!" She yelled in worry.

"Stay back!" Silvers barked, throwing up a hand with his fingers splayed out. Stellar stopped running with a puzzled look that melted swiftly away when she saw the Admiral.

"Kizaru..." She said.

"Stellar Stefwill, it's an honour to meet you at last," Kizaru replied, lips still curled in a soft grin.

"Rayleigh, where is Luffy?" Stellar asked, eyes not leaving the Devil Fruit user before her.

"He's gone," Silvers said bluntly.

"Gone? How-?"

"Kuma."

"Ah."

"Sorry to interrupt you both," Kizaru cut in as he raised his sword of light once more, "But I'm sure this conversation can continue on the boat taking you to Impel Down."

Stellar twisted her fingers into a tight fist, wisps of purple coiling around it, but Silvers stepped in between them.

"Stellar, go," He said.

"What?"

"Run. Get to the docks, take a boat and leave here."

Stellar frowned, "No. I'm not leaving you!"

"Dammit Stellar! Do as I say! Now g-"

Kizaru took this opportunity to kick Rayleigh in a speed of light. It was too late for Rayleigh to defend himself and was thrown haphazardly away from his nakama. Stellar's eyes widened in utter shock as she watches her friend thrown in the air to an unbelievable distance most likely far from this island. His kick was so strong that the earth beneath her shake and crumble.

The Admiral smiled at Stellar, "I didn't hurt him. Besides, an old man like him is not easy to take down. Now you, Stellar Stefwill, you are the real prize. My name would go down in books if I brought you in."

She took a step back and brought up her fist, the coils of power becoming thick tendrils that lashed at the air like whips.

"Ah yes, The Violet Demon. A very apt nickname don't you think, considering who you really are?"

Stellar stayed silent as she forced herself to calm down. _'Don't succumb to his words. Focus on what is important. Rayleigh will be okay. He is strong.'_

"Oh, have I upset you? I didn't mean to," Kizaru raised his hand and Stellar raised her power laden arm at him in warning,

"I do not wish to fight."

Kizaru smirked, "Oh yes, that's right; a demon who yearns for peace and freedom. But is that possible, hmm?"

Stellar raised her arm over her head and swung it around at the Admiral, the purple tendrils joined, weaving and threading through one another to make one enormous solid coil, "Crystal! Whip!"

Kizaru met it head on with his blade, the annoying smile still gracing his face, "Very nice. But you'll have to be quicker than that."

She flicked her wrist and the whip crumbled into shards before regrouping as a sword, shooting back towards her outstretched hands where she caught it neatly. A small patch of crystals had solidified over the gash on her left shoulder, soothing and healing it out of instinct rather than command. Stellar dropped into a defensive stance, "Try me."

Kizaru raised his eyebrows slightly, "Tell me, how is Portgas D. Ace?" He asked.

Stellar was taken aback by both the bluntness and the sheer randomness of the question, "What are you talking about?"

"He hasn't written you in quite some time now, has he? When was the last time he spoke to you, about a week now? Perhaps longer?"

She froze. It was true. Ace hadn't replied to her letter in over a week now... but how did he know about Ace? No one outside of her and a select few knew about her and the Whitebeard pirate. Unless...

"What have you done with him?" Stellar asked as calmly as possible. Inside, she was seething in fury.

"Me? I haven't touched him. In fact, it wasn't even the Marines who brought him in," Kizaru smiled, thoroughly enjoying this.

Stellar's grip tightened on the sword's handle, "Who then?"

"Blackbeard," He said, "And I must say, what a touching little letter it was you gave Ace. I thought you should know that he did do something stupid. You're right- he didn't listen to you."

"Where is he? What have you done with him?!" She shouted, voice wavering. The Admiral laughed.

"The same place you're going... Impel Down."

Stellar was sure that was when everything fell apart.

Something deep inside of her snapped and she lunged at Kizaru, meeting the thrust of his sword dead on. Purple danced like fire on her body as it erupted from her skin, her eyes were a hot white and all she could think about was this bastard who'd taken Ace away.

"You shouldn't let your feelings get to you, Stellar Stefwill," She heard Kizaru's voice say above the clanging of swords biting, "They leave your guard wide open."

There was a sharp pain in her side, and she gasped, her weight moving forward, and she couldn't support it up. She felt him pull away and she looked down to see the golden sword dragging out of her, blood seeping quickly out of the wound. Her knees gave out and she hit the ground in a crouch, coughing slightly and splodges of crimson spattered the grass beneath her. She was gasping for air that wouldn't come.

"Ace was weak, that's why he was caught. You are weak, Stellar, and that is why you are caught."

A black haze ebbed its way at the corners of her vision and she pressed a hand desperately at the wound in her side, "Heal..." She gasped, "Heal..." But the mixture of panic and shock had thrown her concentration out of the window and she was useless, unable to reach her power.

Another sharp pain exploded in her ribs as Kizaru kicked her harshly. She fell sideways, sliding along the ground and she curled in on herself, letting go of the sword in her other hand and it crumbled into nothingness.

"Don't worry," He said, "Maybe if you're lucky they'll put you and Portgas on the same floor. That's if they don't execute him first."

The darkness bloomed in big splodges across her sight and she spat out more of the coppery liquid in her mouth. She tried to call the power in her, but it wasn't responding, and she couldn't calm herself down enough to snatch at it. Kizaru kicked her again, shattering her last shred of concentration with a couple of ribs and she cried out in agony.

"Huh?" He grunted and looked up; his interest lost in the trembling girl at his feet as a blue haze crept over them. Stellar felt a rush of air and she closed her eyes against the sickening feeling. When she opened them again it was to see a different pair of feet before her and light blue jeans with a hole torn in the fabric and a nasty looking gash on the right shin. Suddenly two eyes appeared. Two extremely familiar eyes.

They were circles of pure smoke from a distance but now she actually looked at them they were not just that. There were hundreds of shades running through with thin slivers of silver streaking in at random points and both were framed by dark, almost black bags formed from bad sleep deprivation. She just about felt a gentle yet firm touch on her side but there was no pain. Everything felt numb.

Trafalgar Law's eyes flashed, and they narrowed, "Why am I helping you?" He asked.

Stellar didn't answer, the darkness finally consuming her as she fell into unconsciousness.

And her dreams were haunted by fire, Marines, Ace and two wicked grey eyes.


	9. Sweet Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I am back! It's so hard to work when you don't have a good laptop. I want to buy one but my mother said no since she's afraid of buying things online these days. Using my old laptop is annoying since it's so sloooow. 
> 
> Thank you for the people who visited this story! Yaayyy! 
> 
> Enjoy! Enjoy!

_Blades of grass pricked at the bare flesh of their arms, prodding the stubborn limbs to move. Sunlight came straight down from a bright blue sky, minute wisps of cloud crawling across like small snakes and landed on their faces, forcing them to close their eyes against it. A slight breeze played with the reeds at the bottom of the slope where a quaint little brook babbled softly, sounding as if it were whispering long kept secrets._

_They lay quietly, in no rush to break the tranquil surroundings which were so rare to come by. Long white hair, like a streak of virgin snow, splayed out on the grass, weaving and mingling with a set of flint black strands. It was silent and beautiful. Ship duties were long forgotten, the shouts and orders of a far too boisterous crew nothing but a lingering memory that was slowly drifting away. Here they could forget all about the days, the chores, the routines they had grown so used to and just be together- even if it was only for a little while._

_Stellar felt her fingers being encased by a strong, warm hand and she turned her head, opening her eyes to meet two dark brown orbs looking back from above freckled cheeks. Portgas D. Ace smiled with a warm crooked grin that made the poor girl blushed pink._

_"Yes?" She blinked as Ace simply grinned at her. He turned his face back up to the sky above._

_"Nothing," He replied._

_They settled back into a warm, comfortable silence, Ace rubbing circles on her wrist with his thumb while she watched him curiously. Eventually he broke the silence._

_"You're going away again, aren't you?"_

_Stellar almost winced at the visible pain in that sentence. She squeezed Ace's hand and softly replied, "Yes..."_

_He turned back and looked her straight in the eyes, "You'll write, won't you?"_

_"Of course- every week."_

_"I wish you had my Den Den Mushi line. It would be... easier that way."_

_"You know I can't, they'd track me down."_

_"I know but still-"_

_"But what, Ace?"_

_"I don't like reading," The pirate pouted._

_Stellar laughed and he joined in. They moved a little closer, "Oh right, I forgot- Fire Fist Ace can't read sentences with more than three words in because he has to think about it," She giggled and covered her mouth with her free hand._

_Ace nudged her, "Oi, don't be mean."_

_"Oh wow, Ace, a sentence with four_ _words. Be careful you don't work yourself too hard!"_

_"That's it!" Ace said sitting up, "I don't like you anymore. You're horrible to me," There was still a smirk on his lips and he didn't let go of Stellar's hand. Stellar laughed as the pirate pretended to sulk and she sat up beside him and leaned against him, so that they were pressing shoulder to shoulder._

_"You know I love you really, even if you don't like reading, have terrible table manners and a tendency to fall asleep at inappropriate times," She cooed, smiling sweetly. Ace rolled his eyes,_

_"Wow, you're making me sound like a great guy there, Stellar..."_

_"But it's everything I love about you," She softly said and laughed when Ace suddenly grabbed her, pulling her into his chest and they overbalanced, tumbling over so that Ace was propped up over her looking down and she was laid back on the grass underneath him, her face all flushed. He smiled, his brown eyes glinting._

_"One day, when Whitebeard becomes the Pirate King, we'll leave together. We can leave all this, all the piracy, behind and run away somewhere the Marines would never find us. Then we'll be together forever, yeah?"_

_It was something they had discussed multiple times and fantasized over regularly. It was their dream and they would work and strive until it was accomplished. Deep down in her heart she knew she wanted nothing more than that- to give what they both wanted a chance to flourish- but it saddened her to know that they couldn't have it yet._

_"Only when you make Whitebeard the Pirate King. I-I want you to reach your dream first, Ace."_

_"I know and it'll be soon, I promise. I'll do it as fast as I can."_

_She pouted, "And please avoid trouble."_

_"But I like doing stupid things. Makes life exciting!"_

_"B-b-but I mean it, Ace!"_

_Portgas stuck his tounge out at her childishly, "I know, I know. I can't promise to stop doing stupid things but I can promise to cut back on them."_

_"You're impossible, you know that?"_

_"And you love me for it," Ace said and leaned down, nuzzling into her neck where his hair tickled her and she started to giggled, trying to push him off as he hugged her._

_"A-Ace, hahaha! S-stop it! L-Let go- hahaha!"_

_The pirate moved up so that his face was level with hers, "Never!" He snickered, his beautiful grey eyes smiling as well._

_Wait._

_Grey?!_

_Ace chuckled, "Fascinating, truly fascinating."_

_Stellar screamed at the man who was Ace yet not Ace. The pirate's silvery eyes observed her intensely and a wicked smirk graced his lips as strong hands gripped her shoulders and pinned her to the ground and powerful hips straddled her waist, making it impossible to break free. Ace's face warped, flickering between two identities before settling on the one she had no desire to ever see again. Trafalgar Law's eyes bore into her from above a surgical mask that covered the lower part of his face, the material smeared and stained with red. He held her arms above her head with one hand whilst the other wielded a sharp scalpel. He held it poised over her chest as his wild eyes glared into hers. Stellar screamed, over and over as Law laughed mercilessly. Somewhere in the distance she heard Ace crying her name._

_"Now let's see what you look like, Stellar-ya," He growled and the scalpel plunged down._

Stellar woke up with a strangled cry. Sweat fell down on her chin as she panted harshly, hands instinctively gripping at the soft fabric that lay across her lower body. A sudden bolt of pain struck her as if a bullet had cracked through her skull and her left hand grasped her throbbing head, groaning at the feeling. She closed her eyes tightly and started to pant heavily again, feeling the pain wrack through her whole body when she tried to move and a burning feeling made its way under her skin. She tried to move again but stopped dead still when she felt something piercing inside of her. An ice cold feeling washed over her.

_'Now let's see what you look like, Stellar-ya.'_

She felt the growl tear through her a second time and she began to shake, trembling as the wild eyes of Trafalgar Law burned into her brain. She took calming breaths.

 _'A dream,'_ she thought, ' _Just a dream.'_

Yes, a dream. A dream that send shiver down her spine. The dream felt so real… She blushed when she suddenly remembered her dream about Ace. It was embarrassing and she was ashamed of herself for dreaming about Ace in that kind of situation. It's far from reality. And she cannot imagine Ace being sweet to a woman, especially her. _'We are just friends…Close friends.'_

Stellar shook head, hoping to erase the dream she had. This is not the time to think of silly things. She took a deep while trying to calm her still erratic heartbeat.

When she had calmed enough, she brushed her hand tentatively up her side feeling her way around her thoroughly bandaged chest and pushing the scarring memory of the scalpel hovering over her far away. She pressed gently and hissed as the broken ribs cried out in protest. She remembered Kizaru kicking at her relentlessly, remembered every break and every crack. She moved her hand away, not even bothering to try and heal it. With all of her thoughts scattered everywhere there was no way she could summon her powers, especially considering Ace-

Ace.

She bit her lip as her eyes began to burn. She wouldn't cry- crying had never helped anybody.

"You're awake."

Stellar's head snapped up at the voice but instantly regretted it groaning when her head throbbed painfully again. Next to her Rayleigh sighed wearily, "You can't move yet. You're badly injured."

Stellar's eyes brightened at the sight of her old friend. "Rayleigh! Thank goodness! Are you okay?" she asked as she observe his body with worried eyes. His head was precisely bandaged just like hers and he looked exhausted but, all that aside, he seemed to be fine.

Rayleigh laughed, "Do not worry about me. You rest more, Stellar."

Stellar shook her head and ignored everything he had said- injuries could wait, "Ace is in danger… I have to go. I can't- I can't just lie here while he's in a place like that. He needs me."

"Better get your ass moving then, he will be executed one week from now."

The familiar face of Shakki joined in from behind her counter, a cigarette dangling loosely between her fingers. She gave Stellar a bored look and puffed out the smoke through her mouth, seemingly oblivious to Stellar's horrified expression. Silvers glowered at her and Shakki returned the look, "What? It's not like you could have hidden it from her anyways."

"That's beside the point, Shakki-"

Shakki snorted at him and looked back at Stellar, "I'll tell you because the old man won't. Ace will be killed one week from today... Oh, and the Marines are making it public."

"Shakki!" Silvers warned.

"Public?!" Stellar exclaimed, "Wh- what- why?!"

"Dunno, maybe to make some sort of half-assed statement about pirates and all that... But if you want a chance of saving him, you better get out that door pronto; you've been lying there for three days already."

"Three days?!"

"Uh-huh, so go grab a boat and make up for that time you spent laying around."

"Shakki, you can't be serious, the poor girl's just woken up from sur-" Rayleigh started. Shakki took a drag of her cigarette and blew the smoke in the old pirate's face.

"If you want to save his ass, get moving. You've a hell of a lot of ground to cover."

Stellar nodded, "Yes!" She sat up, blanking out the pain and Rayleigh's worried fretting as she got to her feet, wobbling slightly.

Shakki grunted, "Good. Now get some clothes on and get out."

Stellar paused, "Clothes?" She looked down at herself and turned pale at the sight. Short shorts barely covered the tops of her legs and her shirt was completely gone, the twists of bandages acting as support on her injuries and as a bra.

"You're wasting your beautiful body, my dear. I wish I had a figure like that again... Trafalgar Law even complimented it," Shakki winked, delighting in the way that Stellar's face immediately turned deep red.

"He... He didn't..." She squeaked, finding no comfort in the amused smiles the pair was giving her. She brought her arms around her chest, "How embarrassing..."

Shakki dropped the amused grin and raised an eyebrow pointedly, "You should be grateful. That man saved your life... Bit of a strange character though- mumbling and cursing at himself as he worked. Kinda... creepy looking. I mean who'd trust a surgeon with 'DEATH' tattooed on them? I know I wouldn't."

"He is...different," Stellar commented, remembering how he had yelled at her for getting hurt, "I honestly do not know his intentions, but he is kind...in his own way." She said and she felt her face getting a little hotter as she adjusts her arms to cover more of her chest.

Silvers shrugged, "I don't know how much he saw- he kicked us out after ten minutes,"

"Apparently our breathing was 'putting him off'," Shakki chimed in sarcastically as she grabbed a bundle and threw it at Stellar who just about caught it, "Now, go get yourself dressed," She pointed at the doors to the left of her and Stellar set off, moving stiffly.

The second she vanished into the other room, Silvers spoke, "You can't be serious, right? She's injured. She can't save Ace by herself."

"She's got friends who can help her."

"What if she gets caught?"

"She won't."

"How do you know that?"

"Dammit, Rayleigh! She's not a child! She's a woman now, she can take care of herself," Shakki hissed.

"But the laws concerning witches are corrupt- they don't class as humans or people. If she gets caught by Marines or thrown into Impel itself there's no telling what they would do to her."

"She's strong, Rayleigh. Give her some credit, she's been on this world far longer than you have."

"But-"

"Love can overcome a lot of things Rayleigh. She will save Ace," Shakki said, determined. Rayleigh said nothing after that and the pair waited until Stellar stepped out, fully clothed and ready. Shakki passed her a brown leather bag, "Here, that's everything you'll need. Now get going. I've a good feeling you'll meet up with Strawhat-san," She began guiding Stellar to the door and onto the front step where she turned around frowning,

"Luffy-san? Why would he be there?"

"Because he's Ace's little brother."

"Wait, brother-?"

But Shakki had already shut the door. She pressed her back against it and waited for the footsteps to start, signaling Stellar's departure. She smiled to herself and walked across to the counter, fumbling a moment with some cups before sliding a beer across to Silvers who sat staring at the door longingly, "She'll be fine, Ray-san," She assured, taking another drag before stubbing the cigarette butt out.

Rayleigh sighed and turned back to face her with a worried look in his eyes, "Yeah..." He sighed ruefully, "Yeah, she will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw, did you all see the new art Oda shared to the fans? Sabo and Ace is in Wano! They are in Wano! I am so happy! Oda drew Ace with facial hair omg! My heart exploded in so much happiness! AAAAAAhhh!!! 
> 
> Thank you for reading this! Mwa mwa!


	10. Impel Down

Stellar stood on the shore, looking out. In front of her lay the wide expanse of the ocean, running on and on forever, and behind her was Sabaody. Something gnawed at her insides as she watched the rise and fall of the waves; she didn't want to leave here, to abandon her home and friends. The minute she returns to the ocean, she steps into that old world again of pirates and Marines and adventure-but this time her nakama wouldn't be with her like they had been all those twenty years ago. She would be alone again like those hundred years before Roger. She closed her eyes, feeling the soft wind pass by her, smelling the salty water of the ocean and, most of all, memorizing how the heat of the sun touches her pale skin.

Once she steps a foot into the brewing war she might never see the sun again.

She smiled to herself bitterly. The sun. Always reminds her of Ace. She would save him; there was no second option and, frankly, she didn't want to consider any other outcome. She would rescue him. He would live. He deserved it. His life by far was more important than her own, she didn't care if Ace was a human. He was a wonderful human with as much right to live as she did herself, she would sacrifice everything and, if it came to it, herself to just make sure he would carry on living and breathing even if it was only for one more day.

" _Hey, Stellar…"_

_"Hm?"_

_"Was it good that I was born?"_

_It was a simple question yet it was so genuine and so heartbreaking at the same time._

_"Yes," she said._

_Her answer was short. Direct. But it put a smile on his face as if that one word was enough. So enough._

_She could feel her heart silently broke into pieces at the sight of his smile that could brighten even the darkest of the night. She felt so powerless, and helpless, because this man never deserves to feel this way. She felt like crying._

_At that moment, she knew that no matter what happens, she would do everything with her power to protect this man._

She huffed a laugh, quick and short. If Roger could see her now... She narrowed her eyes at the memory of her stupid captain- always had to be right, didn't he? She never thought that his guess would be right. He even teased her about it. She remembered clearly his arrogant face, laughing and grinning at her whilst she huffed, cheeks red with embarrassment yelling at him to shut up. He was probably rolling over in his grave laughing at her right now.

_"My son will surely beat the frozen heart of yours, Stellar!"_

_Stellar crossed her arms and sighed, "You don't even have a son, Roger."_

_"I can always make one!" Roger laughed, always so loud and boisterous._

"I miss you all so much it hurts," she whispered, before readying herself. Time was running out and reminiscing on a time long gone would not change the future. She looked at the ocean laying out before her with determined eyes. All those years telling herself to never interfere with other people's businesses, especially Whitebeard's, here she was, ready and willing to fight. She couldn't help herself- it was in her blood and once it's in the blood it never leaves. War, blood and death would always be a part of her life because that was how she grew up and that's all she truly knew.

Slowly, she closed her eyes, focusing all of her power on her upper back, feeling the crystals forming. Fragments twisted and turned, layering over one another to build up the structure. Pain ebbed in her stomach and ribs but she gritted her teeth and bared it, willing them to form faster. Shards of all sizes jutted out of her shoulders in a dip and an arch each to form a pair of large purple wings. She smiled as she moved them experimentally, the crystals making a sound of crushed glass with each movement. They were all various shades, each one different in the sun's light.

She willed them to move faster, building up strength in each wing beat until it was enough to catch an air current and she was thrown up into the air where she twisted onto her stomach and gilded briefly before launching herself into a higher flight. Her long white hair was tossed out behind her and the cool air ran smoothly over her skin.

Her body ached and protested but she ignored it, she had no time to spare if she was to have any chance at saving Ace. She pushed on, wings flapping out either side of her and she looked down at her reflection in the water's surface with a soft smile.

The Violet Demon has returned.

* * *

Ace stared blankly at the wall. His arms were chained up either side of him, strung up high, and they ached from the mixture of effort and seastone. He ran his tongue over the split in his lip briefly, wincing at the slight pain- damn, he hadn't been beaten up in years; he wasn't used to this. The cell wall against his back was cold and moist with God knows what and it slicked his skin, causing goosebumps to rise.

'So this is it, huh?' he thought, 'Impel Down?'

He had replayed the events that had led up to this over and over in his mind but it didn't seem to sink in. It just didn't fit. No one could keep him, Portgas D. Ace, under lock and key. Heck, no one could catch him- they weren't supposed to. He was feared, respected- nobody dared to raise a hand to him in war.

A sudden flash, a memory of a person, flashed through his mind.

Long snow white hair, a stunning pair of eyes like two large pearls looking down at him with a stern but loving gaze, 'You're such an idiot- why can't you stop from doing something stupid for at least a minute?' He smiled sadly.

"Stellar..." He muttered. He wondered where she was right now. Was she still at the Archipelago or had she ran to another island? He'd never know. They'd taken his bag, her letters, everything. It was all gone. He'd die not knowing where she was and unable to read even a single comforting word from her. That, he had concluded, was worse than death itself.

He hoped Luffy would find her, his troublesome little brother would no doubt take her in as his nakama- he wouldn't be surprised if the young Captain had already done so. But it's what Stellar needed. She'd already lost so many people she loved. She needed a home, a family that would stand by her forever. Luffy was perfect for that. Despite his first impressions, his little brother was more intelligent than most people gave him credit for. Stellar would be safe with him for sure.

But it still didn't change the fact that he didn't even get to say goodbye to Stellar. Sure, he'd not said his goodbyes to a lot of people- Luffy, Pops and Marco- but she'd told him to stay safe for her and he didn't and now he was suffering the price for that.

'Keep yourself safe and don't do anything stupid even though I know you will anyway.'

"I'm sorry," Ace whispered, shifting slightly, the slight movement causing the seastone chains to rattle angrily, "I let you down... again."

'I miss you.'

The pirate felt his eyes burn as they began to smart with tears, "Forgive me..."

'Love, Stellar.'

"Please," He huffed breathlessly, a few stray tears escaping, "Please forgive me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short? No worries! There will be more!   
> Go, Stellar! Sorry but you have to go back and expose yourself! It's for the sake of the plot! Live! Save Ace!  
> Comment, huns! Comment!  
> Thank you everyone for reading this! Ciao!


	11. Buggy the Clown

Her body ached terribly and the lulling hands of fatigue threatened to dim her senses. She felt her eyelids beginning to droop as she glided on a soft air current and had to fight to keep them open.

Stellar had been flying for almost a full week now at a lower speed than she was used to due to her injuries. But she'd had no time to heal herself; all of her energy and effort had been put into the long journey. Her eyesight was getting hazy now though and the attempts to keep alert were getting less and less effective. She hoped desperately that she'd cross paths with Mugiwara-kun so that all the pain would be worth it.

She needed to get to Impel Down, she needed to stop this oncoming threat of war. If Whitebeard got onto the battlefield and got himself killed trying to protect Ace then the Fire Fruit users dream would never be accomplished. She couldn't let that happen.

She flapped her wings hard, pulling out of the current and gaining more height with each wing beat. She looked down, spotting a small shape below her.

'A Marine ship?'

She blinked twice and squinted her tired pearly eyes.

'A Marine ship?!'

Her eyes widened a fraction and her mind panicked. She couldn't fight a ship again especially in her condition. She'd been fighting both pirates and Marines on and off now for a week. She knew she couldn't handle another fight; her body was too weak.

But she couldn't exactly surrender either; she could see clearly the Gate of Justice from here. It was no time to begin complaining.

She tilted her wings, diving down and ordering the violet crystals to form a spear. Holding it firmly in her grasp, she pulled up slightly and scanned the ship with alert eyes. She was all prepared to throw the spear when she saw an unexpected person turning the wheel of the vessel. Scratch that, it was a Fishman.

What in the world was a Shichibukai doing driving a Marine ship?!

She flitted her gaze over the ship once more, stopping at a very familiar straw hat that was standing at the railings with other people she didn't know personally but did recognize. Like the man with the large head and horribly thick make-up, Ivankov, the infamous Sir Crocodile and the all too familiar red nose and blue hair of Buggy.

She smiled at the last one, "So Buggy-chan is alive."

Allowing the spear to shatter, Stellar let her arms fall to her sides and she observed the pirates from above, jumping slightly when a loud chorus of shouts took up the air.

"BON-CHAAAAAN!"

"BROTHER BON!"

"BON BOY!"

"MR. 2!"

Stellar frowned in thought, 'Bon-chan?'

Lost in the odd display, she failed to notice the sand rapidly advancing towards her until it was but a few mere meters away. She gasped, twisted in the air and narrowly avoided it.

Suddenly a sharp crashing sound split the air as crystals exploded in a bang of violet and Stellar found herself with only one wing to spare. Below her, the pirates looked up puzzled. She lost her balance and fell from the air, no time or energy to form another wing, and she closed her eyes bracing herself for the pain of the impact. She let the remaining useless wing shatter and plummeted to the wooden deck.

She'd expected pain, but not bouncing.

She opened her eyes at the sensation to see the face of Monkey D. Luffy looking up at her.

He retracted his body into normal proportions and held her upright in his arms so that they were face to face. Luffy didn't look amused, the dampness of tear tracks on his cheeks and he was sniffling slightly. He managed to quirk an eyebrow though at her, "You're- you're the girl I saw on Shabaody."

Stellar blushed, realising how close the young captain was holding her in their position and the seven pairs of eyes locked on her. She swallowed and nodded at a loss of what to say.

Gently, Luffy lowered her to the ground, shooting her a confused glance, "How the heck did you fall from the sky?"

Suddenly, before she could answer, a gruff voice cut in, "Who are you?"

Another voice, "Are you a girl? Or a Newkama like us?"

"What type of man are you into?" A particularly flirty question, followed by another, "Are you married?"

"Would you like to be a Newkama? I can help you dear!"

"You're a pirate?"

The same flirt piped up again, "Oi, oi, pretty girl, are you a virgin, eh?"

Stellar blushed furiously at that question and said, "I-I prefer not to answer that silly question."

"OI, BREAK IT UP GUYS!"

All the pirates immediately fell silent, eyes darting between each other for the source of the voice.

"Stop harassing Stellar nee-chan, idiots! That's a Captain's order!"

The men fell into uproar, "NEE-CHAN?!"

Stellar began to laugh silently, she knew that screeching and demanding voice anywhere. After all these years, she'd never expected for Buggy to jump to her aid. It had always been the other way around when he was younger. She softly smiled, 'I guess he finally found some courage' she thought. Pride surged through her at the idea of the young boy she'd known finally growing up- almost like a mother in a way.

The pirate, now Captain, emerged looking different to when she'd last seen him but also the same. He was older, maturity had changed his face and some of his looks, but his ridiculous blue hair and red nose were still all him. Without a second's hesitation, she dove right at him, pulling him into her arms,

"Buggy-chan!" She cooed and she could practically feel the heat of his blush.

"N-nee-chan?"

"I missed you! Where have you been all this time? The last time I saw you, you were only this high!" she gestured vaguely with an arm, the other still clamped tightly around him, "Look at you, all grown up!"

Buggy laughed, embarrassed. "Well, it's hard to explain actually, a bit complicated and all that..." He said nervously, prising her off him.

"Buggy-sama knows her?" A tall, bald man murmured.

Stellar turned to them with a proud glint on her eyes. "We used to be in the same crew for a while, many years ago," she explained, deliberately avoiding the name 'Pirate King'. She sent the group of men a polite smile and bowed, "I apologize for the late introduction. I am Stellar Stefwill, it's my pleasure to meet everyone."

"To be in the same crew as a gorgeous woman! Buggy-sama you are truly amazing!" One man exclaimed, looking at the captain with utmost awe as did the others. Stellar giggled at his compliment.

Before anything else more could be said, they were all interrupted by a bang as Luffy opened a door at the base of the mast and dipped his hands in, pulling out a Den Den Mushi that was thrumming as it rang. The atmosphere fell tense.

"Luffy... J-just ignore it..." Buggy suggested, nervousness apparent in his body language. But talking to Luffy was like talking to a brick wall... No, actually there was more chance of a brick wall actually listening.

The strawhat snatched up the receiver eagerly.

"Moshi Moshi," he chirped.

Everyone groaned in unison as Stellar stared at the pirate captain in shock, "He picked up!"

"This is Navy HQ."

"Oh? Hello, this is Luffy."

The whole boat screeched, including Stellar this time, "Don't just give your name like that you idiot!"

"We are aware this ship has been taken by escapees. We received report from the Fleet Escort Force at Impel Down. We have determined who the two main suspects of this great escape are from the insider information before contact was lost."

Stellar narrowed her eyes, 'Escapees... From Impel?'

"A pirate named Mugiwara Luffy and his accomplice, Buggy the Clown."

Pride surged through Stellar again at that. Her ex-apprentice was finally making a name for himself just like Shanks had: Roger and Rayleigh would be proud.

"Tell me, what is a legendary pirate like you doing in a place like this?" Stellar froze as a deep, cold, baritone voice hissed in her ear and she spun around to face Crocodile who was looking at her with narrow, calculating eyes.

She looked at him and answered carefully, "I'm here to save someone."

He scoffed as if mocking her reasons. She bristled visibly, "What about you, Crocodile-san? What's your reason?"

The ex-Shichibukai smiled coldly, "I'm going to kill Whitebeard."

A sense of hate washed over her and Stellar glowered, just managing to contain the crystals that longed to cut the man before her into tiny shreds. He openly laughed at her,

"Itching to kill me, eh... Violet Demon?"

She glared but tried to calm herself down- she promised her powers wouldn't be used for her own gain in that way. She wouldn't break an oath like that to Roger. Ever. She was tired and antsy that was all. That was all.

She took a deep breath and asked the question that was bothering her ever since she landed on this ship. "Where is this ship going?" she asked.

He blankly stared at her with a cigarette loosely dangling on his mouth. He smirked, "So you haven't heard, woman?"

She smiled thinly, her patience running low. "I have to admit, I am not listening to the news for the past few days."

"This ship's destination is Marineford," he paused and Stellar noticed his eyes glint dangerously. He opened his mouth again. "Whitebeard plans to save his kid. Now Stefwill, isn't it a perfect place for the old man to end his life—" he removed the cigarette from his mouth – "by my own hands?"

This man was trying to rile her up with his words. His words are controlling and it's taking all of Stellar's patience not to throw him out of the ship. Stellar's hands clenched on her side and she immediately forced herself to count from one to ten. She bit her lip and willed herself to turn away, choosing to ignore him. She was above him. He wasn't worth it.

She nodded to herself eagerly. This ship was heading the same direction as her, so she'd rest here, gather up some strength and hopefully heal her wounds. Luffy's wounds included- she'd noticed the marks on his body. She vaguely heard shouting somewhere outside of her thoughts.

"THAT MEANS STELLAR-CHAN ALSO SAILED UNDER THE PIRATE KING?!"

The shout shattered through her wall of thinking and she blinked dumbly as the words registered in her brain. She looked around to see pair after pair of eyes locked on her, each pair more shocked than the last.

"Is there something wrong, gentlemen?"

* * *

Trafalgar gripped the Den Den Mushi in his hand with a knuckle-whitening grip, the other paused over the support bandage strapped to his elbow. He ground his teeth, "What did you say?"

There was a deep sigh on the other end of the line and Shakki's smooth voice rolled out into the Captain's Quarters, sounding as bored and uninterested as ever, "I told you already. She's gone- left some days ago. It's not like asking me the same question again is gonna change the answer, you know."

The surgeon gripped the receiver so hard his fingers protested against the force and sharp bursts of pain bolted into his already injured elbow. His free hand moved from the bandages and moved up to pinch the bridge of his nose, "My instructions were very clear- she was not to leave until she was fully healed. Her condition would not allow-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever; some doctor crap and all that. But I can't tell her what to do you know, she's a fully grown adult not a child. I'm not her mother, you know, I can't just tell her what to do. She's old enough to do what she wants... She's older than you'd like to think, Doc."

Law snarled slightly at the shortened down phrase of his official title- he hated it when people did that- and closed his grey eyes, trying to hold in the temper that flared in him, "That's beside the point and you know it. I gave you specific orders and you couldn't even follow them!"

His nails were digging painfully into the flesh of his nose but he was too angered to care right now. People were so useless! So unnecessary and dumb! He tighted his lips; he should have stayed on that damn island because at least then he wouldn't be in this mess, "I hope you understand the trouble you've caused me," He hissed, voice threatening, and opened his eyes to glare at the technology in his hand.

"Oh, I understand, Doc," Shakki said and he could hear clearly the coy smile in her tone, "But what I don't understand is why you're getting so worked up over one person."

Law almost dropped the receiver at that, the statement completely throwing him off guard. He hadn't thought of that. Why was he so angry? It was just a patient. After he'd treated them he didn't really care what they did after that- their health was in their own hands from then onwards. He'd never cared before so why now? Why was he so concerned for Stellar yet again?

He snarled into the receiver, "Damned woman..."

His frustration only seemed to rise as Shakki's far too amused laughs barked into the air and he snapped, "We have nothing more to discuss. Bye."

His tattooed hand made to slam the contraption back into the hanger when Shakki spoke, "Look, I don't where she is right now, but I can tell you where she's headed."

Something in the surgeon's chest squeezed harshly at that and it almost felt like pain, a small jolt of hope emerged in him, "Where?"

The bartender chuckled softly, "Marineford."

"What? Why?"

"She has her reasons, but it isn't my place to tell them to you. Just head there, you'll find her."

Trafalgar nodded even though the woman he was talking to couldn't see it, "You've been most helpful."

"Anytime, Doc."

He winced at the nickname again, "And stop calling me that."

He placed the receiver down and pushed up out of his chair to head straight for the control room.

He had a submarine to turn around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bon-chaaaan! He is the best Okama! You rock, Bon-chan! You rock!
> 
> I love to write Buggy as someone who has a soft spot for Stellar fufufu. Do you think Buggy-chan looks cool in a ponytail?! Coz dude it suits him so muuuch.
> 
> My birthday is coming next week and I only wish for everyone to be safe! I saw the news and it was devastating. The situation in our country is bad too and I just really hope our government will think twice before they act. So please, stay safe everyone!


	12. The Former Roger Pirate

Ace stared at the endless blue color of the sky, thinking of how alike it was to the ocean, so wide, so blue, so deep, another place for freedom.

A cloud passed his sight, its puffy figure completely blocking the sun. Somehow it reminded him of Stellar's hair colour and how it felt in between his fingers. It was white and soft, just like the clouds. He wondered where she was right now. Did she know what had happened to him? He scoffed, _'of course she knows by now. News spread so fast.'_ The worried and guilty feeling forms lumps in his stomach as he imagined what her expression would be. _'She must be mad or maybe crying. No, she rarely cries. Maybe she's furious. Can't blame her though, I promised not to do stupid things but here I am, sitting with cuffs restraining my powers. I'll be dead soon.'_

He tried to let his mind wander on anything other than the nearing execution. He didn't want to die but, in his heart, he knew he deserved it.

He was a demon's child. The Pirate King's son. The whole world didn't want him, they didn't want him to live. He had accepted that long ago. Sometimes he thought that maybe, it was best for him to be gone.

He turned his eyes away when the cloud left the burning sight of the sun. His eyes stared blankly at what's in front of him, a wooden plank of the ship.

He felt weak and tired, so lifeless. Maybe the effects of sea-prism cuffs are totally weakening him, physically and mentally.

He thought again on what happened a while back.

Luffy came to save him. His little brother is in Impel Down, trying to save him. What the fuck is he thinking?! He didn't ask to be saved! So why… Why is he there?

He dragged his eyes to the sky again, feeling the tears forming in the corner of his eyes. He would not cry. Not here. Not now. He closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth.

_'Please be fine Luffy.'_

That damn brat kept on making him worry. He wouldn't even let his death be peaceful.

* * *

"Y-you're from the Pirate King's crew, r-right?" one of the prisoner's asked, disbelief plastered on his wrinkled face.

'Ah, they found out.' she covered her lips to hide her growing smile, her eyes sparkling with mirth. "I wonder…" she answered. It might be best not to answer their questions directly.

"So that's why Rayleigh knows you! You're also with the Pirate king!" Luffy shouted excitedly, instantly bouncing in front of her.

Stellar froze in her place and immediately covered the taller boy's mouth with her hand. "Luffy-kun. Shh!" she placed an index finger in her lips, signaling him to shut up.

But Luffy seemed not to get the message as he took off her hands on his mouth and continued blabbering. "Shakki mentioned you're super strong like the old man and have this cool devil fruit power! She said that's where they get your nickname! Oh wait, what is it again? Va… Va… hmmm. Ah! Vio—" his words turned muffled when Stellar forcefully covered his mouth with her hands again.

Stellar sighed, feeling an oncoming migraine on her head. She was so tired. She didn't want to deal with this.

"Wait a minute!"

Stellar and Luffy turned their heads to the owner of the voice. Buggy stood above the second-floor railings, his pose tall and mighty, red nose perked up to the sky proudly with fisted hands planted on his hips.

"That's right my men! Stellar nee-san and I were both on the Pirate King's ship!" he smirked when all his followers have this gleam of admiration on their eyes. "In fact, she's one of the famous Pirate King's best friends!"

Small delicate hands shamelessly fell from Luffy's mouth, and her mouth hung open with disbelief as she watched Buggy revealed everything.

"That's right! She's Roger-senchou and Rayleigh-san's best friend! She is known as the shadow, the shield, the fearless demon of the crew!"

Stellar groaned and facepalmed, her head aching terribly at the scene Buggy was making. Too much for being secretive.

"She's my nee-san! And she's notably known as the Violet Demon!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAT?!"

"You mean she's the Violet Demon who the World Government is desperately trying to kill?"

"Yup."

"The merciless pirate who slays anyone, be it children, women or oldies! The d-demon who kills anyone?! When I mean anyone, I seriously mean ANYONE?!"

Stellar frowned at the silly gossip, "I don't do that."

"Uh-huh."

"The demon who is rumored to eat beating fresh hearts?!"

"That's just disgusting!" Stellar commented, cringing at the sick thought of eating human hearts.

"That's right."

"Buggy-sama! Is it true that she killed a Celestial Dragon?!"

Stellar raised an eyebrow at that, "I thought that was supposed to be a secret?"

"Positive."

"It was supposed to be a secret!" Stellar screeched.

"Shishishi. I'm starting to like you Stellar!"

"Nooo…" She hid her face in absolute shame. She's exposed. Fully exposed.

"It's relieving to know we have a legendary pirate on our side, Stellar-san. And a former Roger Pirate too." Jimbei, the ex-shichibukai, joined the conversation, ignoring the loud big-headed pirates in the background.

Stellar glanced over Luffy's shoulder seeing Jimbei walking towards them, she smiled tiredly at him, running a shaking hand on her arm. She could feel exhaustion taking over her body. "It seems like many people will be depending on me."

"It's one perk of being strong. The weak depend on the stronger ones but isn't that what you're fighting for?" Jimbei asked, giving the smaller woman a side-glance.

"That's before, when our crew was still present." She whispered. "Now it's different. I am not with any crew right now, this time I only have a few people to protect, including him."

"Ne, Stellar…" Luffy looked at her curiously. "Why are you here?"

Stellar gently smiled and ruffled the younger boy's hair. It was softer than what she expected. "I heard Ace is your brother. Am I… correct?"

Luffy grinned big and so innocently, "Yeah, I'm his brother!"

Stellar immediately grasped the rubber man's hand, surprising the boy. "I-I—no, we will save him, Luffy-kun. I promise you." She said with a sure and determined look in her eyes.

Luffy grinned widely, "Of course!"

Stellar smiled softly at him and held his cheek with her hand. "Now, how about we rest? Oh wait, let me heal your wounds." She suggested with a motherly tone. She glanced at Jimbei, "Yours too."

Jimbei crossed his arms to his chest, smiling slightly, "No, I'm fine. Reserve your energy for later."

Stellar shook her head disapprovingly, removing her hand from Luffy's cheek, "I don't take no for an answer."

The fishman sighed in defeat and uncrossed his arms. "Fine. Let's go upstairs. It's crowded here."

Luffy and Stellar nodded and they went upstairs to sit near the steering wheel. Jimbei had purposely left it without someone to take over. The current would take them to where the Navy HQ is.

They all sat on the wooden floor with Stellar in the middle. Luffy asked, "How will you heal us?"

The corner of her mouth curved into a smile at his genuine curiosity. "Being a demon has its perks, Luffy-kun."

"Oh."

"Who wants to go first?" she asked while removing her black gloves in her hand.

Luffy raised his hand excitedly, "Me! Me!"

Stellar laughed, raising her hand in front of her with a light violet glow, "Okay, okay. Just stay still."

And so she healed every wound in and on his body, starting from his abused hand going to his chest. She sadly wondered how he got those terrible wounds- they were serious and in need of dire medical attention. Her healing powers could only do so much and it worries her how this boy will survive in the coming war.

She raked her eyes over his body for more scratches or cuts, and she saw how hurt he was. Not just physically but emotionally. She noticed how he would constantly glance at the sea and how his eyes gleamed anxiously. She didn't know him well, but it was enough to know that he really cared for his brother.

_'Luffy-kun…'_

At this particular moment, Stellar made a silent vow to herself as she healed him. She will protect Luffy. No matter what the consequence will be, she will make sure that this boy survives the war and rescues Ace. Luffy deserves happiness just like his brother.

War was something she got used to, and war was never pretty. Never would she wish for anyone to feel what she experienced.

Life was cruel, unfairly cruel, but no one deserves to only see it as it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So more info about Stellar! Buggy knows her too well! I like Buggy! He's a cutie! But Luffy is more adorable! Gosh!!!


	13. Marineford

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yep, I shall crawl back to my blanket and leave this be. Enjoy!

**Chapter 13**

**Marineford**

Everyone was screaming, some were flailing desperately on air, and some were even crying their hearts out in fear. Stellar had to admit that they made a terrible mistake. The possibility of death was just before their eyes and they kept on blaming each other for listening to the plan of the last person they shouldn't really have listened to...

Monkey D. Luffy.

Now they were helplessly falling from the sky, all of them regretting having listened to the young captain – because who REALLY, in their right mind, would listen to a pirate known for their unpredictability and dumb antics? Sadly, they did. They all listened to him and now, they could not deny the fact that they were utterly wrong to listen to and follow the plan made by the monkey-brained rubber man.

What in the world had they been smoking to agree with such an idea?"

"I knew you'd overdo it!" Buggy cried angrily.

"This is all because of his wink!" Crocodile argued back.

"Vyou're blaming this on vme, Croco?!" Ivankov screamed.

"Who cares?! We're gonna die!" Luffy shouted.

Stellar laughed heartily.

"This is no time to laugh, Stellar-san!" Mr. 3 screamed as he helplessly thrashed around in panic. "Please do something! I don't want to die!"

She immediately shut her mouth, mentally scolding herself for being insensitive to her surroundings. They were all in trouble and she needed to do something about it.

As they neared the frozen ground, Stellar noticed how Aokiji did not hold back freezing most of the Marineford. Even the massive waves that were supposed to engulf the island had been frozen solid and any ships that had dared to sail near the island were stuck. He was clearly showing off; a testament of the power of one of the three Great Admirals.

Stellar narrowed her eyes at the thought of these silly marines trying to instill fear in the Whitebeard Pirates. _'Is this your declaration of war, Sengoku?'_

Stellar carefully examined her surroundings with her observation haki. There were thousands of marines ready to fight, and the Whitebeard pirates, including the Division Captains, (which was a rare sight) were all present and ready to save Ace

A man, who was known to be the strongest person alive, stood proudly on his ship while holding his signature bladed spear, his posture confident and formidable; just as how a Yonko should be. Stellar moved her head towards the direction where her old friend was, and she could not help but smile in relief at the wide grin Edward was showing to the whole world.

And Ace… Stellar looked to her left. Ace was gaping foolishly with a distressed look plastered on his face. Garp and Sengoku were with him, shocked and stupefied at the chaos the newcomers were creating.

Stellar bit her lip and focused her eyes on Ace. Seeing him covered in wounds and chained like a dog made Stellar's muscle grow tense, anger curled and unstoppable in her gut. That man, who was the kindest and most caring person she ever met, never deserved to be treated like dirt.

"Everyone!" she started. The prisoners who heard her looked at her with hope shining in their eyes. "Do you trust me?" she asked them seriously as small shards of crystals smoothly covered her hands and flowed to her arms.

"YEEEEEEESSSSS!" they all shouted with tears in their eyes and snot flowing out of their nose.

"Good!" she shouted back and the crystals that surrounded her arms began to spread beautifully on her back to create wings. Stellar immediately angled her body into a hovering position, her eyes assessing the places of everyone who was falling. They were all scattered, making it a difficult catch, but Stellar had to try and save them from smashing their heads on the ground

Wasting no time, Stellar released more crystals out of thin air in the middle of the battlefield, spreading it like a blanket that covered half of the sky, ready to catch the prisoners who soon successfully hit the blanket of crystals a little roughly. One by one, most of them were caught by her powers including Luffy who bounced clumsily and landed beside a dizzy Buggy.

Crocodile managed to catch himself and landed lightly on his feet thanks to his sand.

Ivankov failed to angle his landing and hit his big head hard.

Mr. 3 and the other prisoners crashed themselves ungracefully in the blanket of crystals.

Slowly and carefully, Stellar brought them down to the ground, her left hand controlling the crystals to land them safely. Her other hand, however, shot up to create another blanket of crystals to catch the falling marine ship.

' _Last one,_ ' she thought and grunted as she felt her arms turning stiff when she carefully covers the ship with her crystals to lessen the force of its fall. It was heavy but she could handle it just fine.

"Stellar nee-san is really amazing…" Buggy said in awe. He watched the legendary pirate perfectly control the crystals around them.

"Shishishishi! Thank you Stellar!" shouted Luffy who unintentionally confirmed the fears of the marines surrounding them.

The marines, no doubt, heard of the name, the rumors, the news. Her name was mentioned in history books, proclaiming that this woman should never exist, and her race was a curse eradicated by the World Government for the sake of peace. Their ancestors said that she is a demon, a powerful crystal user, and a woman whose hair was as white as snow and eyes that resembles the treasured pearl of the sea.

Rumors said that she lived for years, decades…centuries. She was also known for killing a Celestial Dragon, a being that should be respected and praised by mere mortals like a god. She broke the law of the world which only made the people believe that she, indeed, is a demon.

But most of all, she was known for being a part of the legendary crew that shocked the whole world.

She was supposed to be a myth, a ghost of the past. But here she is, all flesh and bones. Her pearl-like eyes piercing to every marine's soul with deep loathe and hatred.

She crashed the ship recklessly, not minding the marines who were scattered on the frozen ground.

Stellar landed gracefully beside Luffy, patting the dust on her cloak and wiping the sweat that matted her bangs. Her posture slumped slightly at the ache that was slowly forming on her shoulders, the consequences of using her powers constantly before its limit. Ivankov, Crocodile, and Buggy stood behind them, judging the battlefield with their own eyes.

Marines surrounded them instantly. Marines pointed them with their guns and swords, their sole purpose is to eliminate the pirates and prisoners who were obviously unwelcomed on the battlefield. It was a sight to see, but Stellar paid no mind to them as she smiled softly at the familiar faces of the Whitebeard pirates who were still shellshocked on what is happening.

"LUFFY!"

Upon hearing his name, Luffy immediately faced the person he was looking for. He grinned so widely; his eyes full of hope.

"AAAACE! I FINALLY FOUND YOU!"

* * *

_'Why…why are you here, Stellar?! Stupid brother?!'_

Ace bit the inside of his cheek, his head swimming in so much worry and confusion about the sudden turn of events. Why was his little brother wasting his life on this battlefield?! For him?! He should mind his own business! This is his adventure, his problem, his life. He should go away and leave this bloody war. Especially Stellar… She should be somewhere safe, relaxing on an island where no one will bother her. Why is she here revealing her whole identity to the whole world?! Why is she wasting her efforts on living as free as possible?

_'How about your freedom?!'_

He wanted to shout, to scold them for the wrong choice they are making, to chase them away from the problem he caused. But nothing comes out of his mouth because everything feels so dry, so painful. He choked on the sob that wishes to release from his mouth. He is fucking pathetic. He is so damn useless.

 _'Please…Oh god, please. Go away…'_ He bowed his head, hiding his tears, and whispered, "Just leave me to die."


End file.
